"We all see indicators of progress by Ms. Spears," Federline's lawyer, Mark Vincent Kaplan, told reporters after the closed door hearing, which heard a report on Spears by a mental health expert. "What was a seemingly daily state of extreme flux has been stabilized," Kaplan said.

Spears, 26, turned up at court on time, demurely dressed in a brown polka-dot dress and cream cardigan, and accompanied by her parents.