Kelly Rutherford has been awarded temporary sole custody of her two children. A California judge signed an order on Friday requiring the actress' children to be returned to the United States.
The court empathetically ruled that the children, Hermes, eight, and Helena, five, are citizens and residents only of the United States, and that Monaco has no jurisdiction over the children's lives.
Kelly Rutherford has been awarded sole custody of her two children
The judge also ruled that the California order requiring the children to move to France in 2012 was meant to be temporary, and that it was improper for the children's father to establish residency for the children in Monaco."Kelly is thrilled with the outcome and is looking forward to bring reunited with her children," a spokesperson for the Children's Justice Campaign, who was in the court on Friday for the ruling told HELLO! Online.The order was issued one day after Kelly Rutherford arrived in Monaco for a week-long visit with her children, but was denied access by the children's father Daniel Giersch. Both children were said to be devastated as was their mother, a source close to the actress said.
"We are hopeful that he will turn over the children to Ms. Rutherford to comply with the order as soon as possible so that the children can be returned to the United States per the court's orders," Kelly's lawyer David Glass told HELLO! Online in a statement.
Kelly's children were living in Monaco with their father Daniel Giersch
The happy news comes just a month after Kelly Rutherford told HELLO! Online she was "doing everything I can to survive" after losing custody of her two young children.
In April, the Gossip Girl star's attempt to seek help from a federal US court to grant her custody of the children was unsuccessful, with a judge ruling that they should continue to live with their father in France. Since then a petition imploring the White House to intervene has garnered more than 118,000 signatures.
The mother-of-two was originally granted shared custody of Hermes and Helena when she and Daniel split in 2009.
However when the German businessman's American Visa was revoked in 2012, a California judge decided that the children should live in France with him and Kelly should travel there to see them.
Kelly's celebrity friends were quick to react to the happy news with Kim Kardashian tweeting: "Wow!!!!! Congrats @KellyRutherford You deserve ever bit of this joy!!!! Xoxo"
Efforts to reach Daniel Giersch's US-based lawyer Fahi Takesh Hallin, to comment on the ruling were unsuccessful.
To learn more about the Children's Justice Campaign click here.