Actress Kelly Rutherford Loses Child Custody Case, Has to Send Kids Back Overseas
Just two weeks ago, "Gossip Girl" actress Kelly Rutherford made an emotional plea to a judge in a California courtroom to get full, permanent custody of her children. But that plea has not been granted by the judge, who said that the California courts have no jurisdiction over her custody case given that she does not live in the state, according to a report on People.
It is a major setback for the actress who has been battling her ex-husband, German businessman Daniel Giersch, for nearly six years over custody of her young children who are 8 and 6.
The decision was handed down on Thursday by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Juhas stating that California has no jurisdiction over the case and it would have to be played out in Rutherford's home state. But it also said it did not give jurisdiction to Monaco, which is where Giersch lives with his children.
"The Court does not believe that it is obligated to relinquish jurisdiction to Monaco, only that it acknowledges that it no longer has jurisdiction over the children," Juhas wrote in his judgment.
Rutherford's children, Hermes and Helena, have both been staying with her since they arrived in July following an order by a Monaco judge. But is she is supposed to return them at the end of summer, according to the order.
The two parents share custody of their children, but when Giersch's Visa was revoked, he took the children away to live with him in Monaco. Rutherford had made an estimated 70 trips to the foreign city visiting her children. She has since filed bankruptcy, citing mounting bills for her legal efforts and traveling back and forth to see her children.
"We are extremely disappointed," David J. Glass, Rutherford's attorney, said in a statement obtained by People. "This court set up the current situation whereby my client was forced to live bi-coastally, but now, the court appears to be holding it against her. Likewise, the court created the situation whereby the children would lose their connections to California, and despite the Judgment's language precluding the passage of time from creating new jurisdiction, that is exactly what has happened."
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