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In A bold move, Kelly Rutherford refused to hand over her children to father, Daniel Giersch in Monaco. Kelly was supposed to return the children yesterday, but refused after two separate courts decided they had no jurisdiction over the case leaving the fate of her children in limbo.
“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,” Rutherford wrote in a statement. “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.
My ex-husband recently filed for sole custody in Monaco after causing my children to be declared ‘habitual residents’ there, even though he agreed with California in 2012 that the children’s time in France and Monaco would be temporary, and that the children would retain exclusive citizenship and residency in the United States.I trusted my ex-husband’s agreement, and cannot now send them away in light of the legal actions taken in Monaco in violation of that agreement by my ex-husband.
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. 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.”
Not sure of the legal repercussions Kelly will face. She was awarded a summer with the kids after three years of fighting (and bankruptcy) to bring her American born children home from Europe.
Photo from PR Photos
