She said child psychologists are often used in situations where children are being reintroduced to a parent who lost visitation privileges. It's often a temporary arrangement, she said, since the aim is for the children and parents to develop their own relationship.

"The whole point of doing this is to build to a point of autonomy," Traube said.

She said an experienced psychologist will also help the children deal with their father's death, and ensure that Jackson's children, family and Rowe "are comfortable because it is an unusual situation."

The children have been living with their 79-year-old grandmother at the family's home in the San Fernando Valley since their father's death. Despite their untraditional upbringing, they have been described as model children.

Katherine Jackson was perhaps her son's most constant and trusted confidante — by his side through the triumphs and successes of his music career and his downfall after being accused of child molestation.

The singer clearly favored his mother as caretaker for his children, designating her as his top choice in his will. His backup was singer and friend Diana Ross.

Although Jackson's children have grown up without a mother, Jackson adored his.

"Every child thinks their mother is the greatest mother in the world, but we Jacksons never lost that feeling," Jackson wrote in "Moonwalk," his 1988 autobiography. "Because of Katherine's gentleness, warmth and attention, I can't imagine what it's like to grow up without a mother's love."

Jackson was fiercely protective of his children, generally shielding or disguising them in public. Their introduction to the public came during Jackson's memorial service, an event broadcast worldwide. Paris-Michael provided the service's most touching moment when she tearfully eulogized her father as "the best father you could ever imagine."

Rowe, 50, who breeds horses and has a home northeast of Los Angeles, has not been a fixture in the children's lives. She met Jackson when she was a receptionist for celebrity dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein.

Public records show there have been significant gaps in visits between Rowe and her children, but they do not indicate when she last saw them.

In 2001 Rowe wrote of Jackson's parenting when she petitioned to relinquish her parental rights. "Michael has been a wonderful father to the children and I do not wish to share parenting responsibilities with Michael because he is doing so well without me."

At the time, she said she hadn't seen her children in more than a year.

Although much has been made of that decision since Jackson's death, her parental rights were eventually restored and she petitioned for custody after the singer was charged with child molestation in 2003.

Yet she was one of Jackson's strongest witnesses at his 2005 child molestation trial in Santa Barbara.

Rowe described him to jurors during the singer's criminal trial as: "Generous to a fault, good father, great with kids, puts other people ahead of him. Brilliant businessman."

At the time, she testified it had been two-and-a-half years since she saw her children.

Although Rowe never formally petitioned for custody after Jackson's death, the agreement with Katherine Jackson will likely be discussed during a hearing scheduled for Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. That hearing will now focus more on lingering issues with Jackson's multimillion dollar estate, of which Katherine Jackson has vied for control.

(China Daily/Agencies July 31, 2009)