Britney Spears back in court over child custody

File photo shows Britney Spears as she leaves the Stanley Mosk Courthouse garage after a child custody hearing with her ex-husband regarding her two sons in Los Angeles, California October 26, 2007. [Agencies]

A Los Angeles judge questioned Britney Spears and a parenting coach on Tuesday during a hearing into the pop star's child custody case before ordering a change to her visitation status with her two sons.

Because the hearing was closed to the public, court officials would not say if Spears, 26, had won further visitation rights with her young children from Los Angeles Court Commissioner Scott Gordon.

But the celebrity Web site TMZ.com reported that Gordon had granted the Grammy-winning entertainer overnight visits with sons Sean Preston, 2 1/2, and Jaden James, 21 months, who are in the custody of her ex-husband, Kevin Federline.

The commissioner questioned Spears and her parenting coach during the hearing, court spokesman Allan Parachini told reporters, but did not require them to testify under oath.

Federline, 30, attended but it was not clear if he addressed the court.

Parachini said that at the end of the hearing Gordon ordered the modification to Spears' visitation rights and set another status conference in the case for July 15.

An assistant for Spears' lawyer, Laura Wasser, said the attorney would not speak to reporters. Federline's lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.

Spears has turned her life around in the past few months after a year of troubling behavior and two brief hospitalizations for psychiatric evaluation.

She has been mentioned as a possible Emmy award nominee for her guest appearance on the TV sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" and is reportedly working on a new album.

The singer's father, Jamie Spears, was granted control over her personal and business affairs in February, and former self-styled manager and constant companion, Sam Lutfi, has abided by a restraining order that keeps him away.

The personal life of the former teen phenomenon, one of the most successful pop stars in the world in the early 2000s, spiraled out of control after her 2006 breakup with Federline.

She shaved her head, entered rehab, was ordered to take drug and alcohol tests and parenting classes, and was twice taken to psychiatric units for treatment of what has been reported to be bipolar disorder.

Spears won her Grammy award for best dance recording, "Toxic," in 2004.