‘Gossip Girl’s’ Kelly Rutherford Granted Sole Custody Of Two Children That Ex Took To Monaco In 2012

Gossip Girl‘s Kelly Rutherford has been battling to have her children returned to Los Angeles after her ex-husband, Daniel Giersch, took them out of the country to Monaco in 2012. Initially the pair were granted joint custody of their two children, 8-year-old Hermes and 5-year-old Helena, after their split in 2009. However, things became complicated in 2012 when Giersch’s U.S. visa was revoked for alleged “illegal activities.” Giersch was forced to leave the country and Kelly sought to have the children placed in her sole care; however, a judge ruled the joint custody agreement should stand and with Giersch unable to travel to the U.S. to visit them, the judge ruled that the children were to live in Monaco with their father with Kelly traveling to visit them. That all changed this week when a judge granted Kelly Rutherford sole custody of the children and demanded that the children be returned to L.A. from Monaco.

People Magazine notes that the court order was made on Friday and outlines that the children must be returned to Los Angeles and that their mother will keep their passports in her possession. The court order comes after Kelly says she went to visit her children in France on Thursday, but was denied the ability to see them unless she agree to turn over their passports to someone Giersch claimed was a “neutral party,” however, Kelly says the man was a member of her ex-husband’s legal team.

Kelly informed a California judge of what happened during her visit and the judge ruled that sole custody should be temporarily granted to Kelly Rutherford until another hearing scheduled for June 15. Kelly’s lawyers say they are “ecstatic” about the ruling and hopeful that Monaco will respect California’s ruling and send the children back to their mother.

“We are ecstatic, and hopeful that Monaco will respect the California court’s ruling and send the children home. It has long been our position that Monaco has no jurisdiction because Hermes and Helena, as American citizens, have an absolute right to live in their own country. If the citizenship shoe were on the other foot and these children were citizens of Monaco, I have no doubt the United States would respect their right to reside in Monaco. Monaco officials know that sending the children back to America is the right thing to do. I’m looking forward to the happy reunion of the children not only with their mother, but also with their country!”

Kelly has been fighting for custody of her children since 2012 when the judge ruled that the children should live with Giersch in Monaco. However, many have claimed that Kelly is responsible for having Giersch’s visa revoked as a former lawyer on Rutherford’s team was responsible for the revocation by reporting the German businessman’s allegedly illegal activities to the State Department. Kelly, however, denies that she was involved in the revocation in any way and points out that Giersch was supposed to reapply for a visa and never did.

Celebrities have spoke out about their joy for Kelly’s custody victory including Kim Kardashian.

Wow!!!!! Congrats @KellyRutherford You deserve ever bit of this joy!!!! Xoxo https://t.co/j0Er6Wl63f

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) May 24, 2015

Do you think Monaco will follow through with the California court order and have Kelly Rutherford’s children returned to L.A.?

[Image Credit: Getty Images/ Jemal Countess]