Kelly Rutherford Wins Custody Battle: ‘Gossip Girl’ Actress Granted Temporary Sole Custody Of Her Kids

Kelly Rutherford is one step closer to having her children home with her again.

The actress, known best for her role as Lily van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl, was recently awarded temporary sole legal and physical custody of her two children, son Hermes, 8, and daughter Helena, 5, by a California judge, who ruled that the two children must return back to the United States from Monaco, where they had been living for the past three years with father Daniel Giersch, according to People Magazine.

“We are pleased that the Los Angeles Superior Court acted swiftly on Friday, May 22nd to confirm its continuing jurisdiction over the custody matter and the parties’ two children,” Rutherford’s attorney, David Glass, said in an emailed statement, according to CNN. “We remain hopeful that Mr. Giersch, after reviewing the Orders, will cooperate fully and assist us in peacefully transferring the children to Kelly’s custody.”

“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,” Rutherford’s lawyer Wendy Murphy said. “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,” Murphy added. “I’m looking forward to the happy reunion of the children not only with their mother, but also with their country!”

Rutherford and Giersch married in August, 2006, but later separated in December, 2008, and were officially divorced in July, 2010. They were originally supposed to share custody of their children, but after Giersch was refused re-entry into the United States, due to his U.S. visa having been revoked, a judge ordered the children should live with him in France, according to ABC News.

“I’ve always wanted my kids to have a relationship with him, and I’ve really only encouraged that all along. When I went into court, I never asked for money, and I never asked for full custody,” Rutherford said in April. “I just wanted what was right for them and their well-being moving forward. And what happened over the next six years was the most surreal, bizarre, unimaginable thing.”

“I can sit here and tell you how often I cry … I can tell you how it feels to leave my kids in a foreign country … to see them after not seeing them for weeks on end,” she added. “Not being able to drop them off at school … pick them up from school … dress them … smell them … hug them.”

Do you think Kelly Rutherford’s children should live with her in the United States or with their father in France? Leave your comments below.

[Photo by Dave Kotinsky / Getty Images]