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As several of you tipped us to yesterday, the final settlement t's have been crossed and marital dissolution i's dotted in the Spears-Federline divorce negotiations, leaving Britney Spears and her onetime wifebeater-wearing wooer free to go their separate ways:

After a five-hour meeting with their attorneys present, Spears and Federline signed "a global settlement on all issues of their marriage," said Michael Sands, a spokesman for Federline's attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan. Sands declined to elaborate on terms of the settlement, saying only that it covers child custody and financial matters. Spears' attorney, Laura Wasser, declined to comment.

It will surely go down as a memorable spring of rebirth for Spears, fresh from a rehab-renewal and now unencumbered by America's Most Handout-Hungry. Still, wherever the two choose to go from here (probably to a Vegas nightclub), they will forever be bound by their two, young sons, who, God willing, will be able to overcome the hardships of childhood divorce and go on to lead fulfilling lives themselves, possibly as the stars of a "lifestyles of the children of the formerly famous" reality series of their own.