Kelly Rutherford Granted Sole Custody Of Children

Published on May 25, 2015.

Photo by REX Shutterstock

This custody case is truly bizarre. Buckle in for a quick, wild ride.

Kelly Rutherford, who most remember from Gossip Girl, or the NBC soap opera, Generations, was married to a German-born, Monaco resident and entrepreneur, Daniel Giersch, in 2006. While married the couple welcomed two children, Hermes and Helena, and it was during the second pregnancy in 2009 that Kelly filed for divorce. After Helena was born in 2010, things took an exceptionally weird turn for the parents.

Kelly only wanted their children to be able to spend time with both parents, and agreed to joint custody, alas, Daniel’s visa was revoked by the United States, and he was forced to return to Monaco. At this, a judge ordered that Kelly do the leg work, and do the flying to visit the children, since she agreed to joint-custody. For the past several years, she has attempted to return the children home to the United States to live with her.

After some savvy work by her lawyers, Kelly finally has the angle she needs to return her children home to the United States–the children have lived in Monaco since 2012. The angle: both children are United States citizens. A California judge has offered custody to Kelly, who has been granted the right to bring the children home to the United States, where she will maintain custody of the children and their passports.

Now the ball is in the hands of the Monaco courts, which should agree to the decision made by California judicial system, which originally presided over the the divorce proceedings of Kelly and Daniel.

Also Check Out: Hollywood’s 9 Nastiest Custody Battles