Dale and Ellen-Beth Fullwood will work to complete a case management plan that outlines certain requirements each parent must satisfy before he or she can be reunited with the children.

Had the Fullwoods -- whose 6-year-old daughter Coralrose was sexually assaulted and killed in September -- proceeded with the trial that was scheduled for next week, a judge would have made an immediate decision on whether they would get their children back.

"I know I just want to put the rest of my family, that deserves to be back together, back together in the quickest and least painful way," Ellen-Beth Fullwood said.

"Based on the advice of counsel, this is the least painful way."

It could be months before a judge again reviews the case to determine if either parent should regain custody of the children,

"They'll get their kids back, eventually," said Debra Salisbury, attorney for Dale Fullwood. "The kids clearly love both of their parents."

The Department of Children and Families took the children the day after Coralrose was found dead two blocks from the family's home on Sept. 17.

A North Port Police Department detective reported alarming conditions in the home, including fecal matter in a bathtub, cockroaches and piles of laundry strewn about.

Attorneys for DCF have argued that it's not just a dirty house case, saying Coralrose's killing is still unsolved and police have not cleared either parent as a suspect in the death.

Dale Fullwood said the decision to avoid the trial was a relief because of the media attention and the animosity between him and his wife.

"She ditched me and did everything possible to make me look bad and her look like an angel," he said.

The Fullwoods separated after he was arrested in October on two felony counts of possession of child pornography.

The couple of 13 years don't speak, and Ellen-Beth Fullwood has said the only thing stopping her from filing for divorce is the cost of hiring an attorney.

In a recent court appearance where Ellen-Beth Fullwood was granted unsupervised visits with her children, she brought up concerns she had about her husband possibly sexually abusing two of her daughters when they were younger. No such allegations were ever reported to authorities.

In turn, Ellen-Beth Fullwood's parenting came under fire by her husband's attorney, who questioned how many hours she spends reading and writing on the Herald-Tribune's Web site, heraldtribune.com, and whether she yells at her children.

Saul and Doreen VanderWoude, who care for the Fullwood children at their Lee County home, were not at the Wednesday hearing and had not heard the news that the children would be staying with them for months to come by Wednesday afternoon.

But the children are the top priority for the retired couple in their 60s.

"The kids are welcome here for as long as they're going to be here," said Saul VanderWoude.