The Lohans were able to cross one of their long pending legal obligations off the family docket Friday as Lindsay's parents, Dina and Michael, finally reached a settlement in their acrimonious divorce.
"Mr. and Mrs. Lohan, you have both demonstrated to me extraordinarily good judgment in resolving the matter as you did," Judge Robert Ross of the Nassau County Matrimonial Center told the ex-couple.
The split is expected to be made official within 90 days, depending on how soon the formal documents are filed and processed by the courthouse. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
"Now, the healing process can begin for myself and my children," Dina told reporters outside the courthouse. She also said that Lindsay, recently photographed walking and biking near the grounds of the Cirque Lodge rehab center in Park City, Utah, was doing "fantastic."
As is the family's troubled patriarch.
"I thank God it's finished," Michael said after the hearing. "I wish Dina the best, and I hope we can both move forward and put our best foot forward for the kids' sake and just be good parents."
The settlement comes a week after the Lohans' last court appearance, at which time they promised the judge that a deal would be hashed out by today. At the time, both sides said some "minor details" were all that remained but did not reveal the nature of the hangups during the closed-door court session.
While all that stands between Dina and Michael's singleton status is a court stamp or two, the potentially tricky issue of custody still needs to be worked out.
Under New York law, divorce and custody issue are handled by different juridictions. While the former couple have concluded their business in the state supreme court, they still have to appear in family court next month to determine visitation and custody of their two minor children, 13-year-old Aliana and 11-year-old Dakota.
In previous hearings, the judge in that case, Stacy Bennett, ordered Michael to get a job and start forking over $500 a week in child support. (Lindsay, 21, and her brother Michael, 19, are no longer minors and are not part of the custody discussions.) The children were not mentioned in the Matrimonial Center hearing Friday.
Last week, Ross reportedly granted Michael visitation privileges for his two youngest children, provided a pastor and no less than two lawyers are on hand to supervise. Michael has been living at the Christian-based drug and rehabilitation center Teen Challenge since getting sprung from prison in March and , his lawyer told People, has not seen any of his children in more than three years. (Michael and Dina were close to a settlement in 2005, before his legal troubles, including repeated DUIs and assault charges, landed him behind bars.)
It's unclear if Bennett will make changes to this arrangement next month, but she should have a report from the family therapist the judge assigned to evaluate the elder Lohan.
Dina and Michael are due back in family court for a hearing on the matter Sept. 6, by which time Michael is expected to have had his first visit with his minor offspring.
Lindsay, meanwhile, is due to appear in courtrooms in both Santa Monica and Beverly Hills for her dual DUI cases Aug. 24.
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