The former 'Gossip Girl' actress says she 'cannot lawfully send my children away from the United States to live in a foreign country.'
- Aug 9, 2015
AceShowbiz - Kelly Rutherford has decided not to send her children back to her ex-husband Daniel Giersch in Monaco. "No state in this country is currently protecting my children. It also means that no state in this country currently requires me to send the children away. Hence, I have decided that I cannot lawfully send my children away from the United States to live in a foreign country," she said.
"These past three years waiting for my children to come home have been very difficult. My children were forced to leave the United States in 2012 when they were only 2 and 5 years old," she told PEOPLE. "In May, a judge in California gave me sole custody and brought them home. I am immensely grateful and overjoyed to have them back. Since May, however, the court proceedings have been confusing."
The former "Gossip Girl" star continued, "The Monaco court treated me with respect when I appeared there earlier this year to file a formal objection to their jurisdiction. I believe Monaco appreciates why it cannot assert jurisdiction over my children, and that Monaco will respect my children's right to reside in their own country."
"I hope that this decision will end this painful litigation, and that my children will be allowed to live in peace in their own country," she added. "Like all German citizens, my ex-husband can presumably travel to the United States on his German passport and exercise his parental rights in this country, just as I have done for the past three years in France and Monaco on my U.S. passport. I pray that officials in this country and in Monaco will agree that three years in exile is a very long time in a child's life, and that my children have a right to remain, once and for all, in the United States."
Rutherford split from Giersch while she was pregnant with their second child, Helena. The couple was supposed to share joint custody of their son Hermes and daughter Helena but a court ruling in 2012 ordered the kids to live with Giersch so that the kids didn't have to make a long trip to visit their father who couldn't enter the States after his visa was revoked.
The joint custody remained but Rutherford was ordered to do the travelling since she was able to enter Europe. The actress later claimed she got turned away when trying to visit her kids. According to her, she was not allowed to see the children during her most recent visit unless she gave their U.S. passports to "a neutral person" whom she claimed to be one of her ex-husband's attorneys.
