Michael Loccisano/Getty ImagesKelly Rutherford has won a major legal victory in her six-year court battle over the custody of her two children.
A judge has ordered that the 46-year-old actress' daughter and son, Helena, 6, and Hermes, 8, fly to the United States on July 3 to spend the summer with their mother. The ruling was made in a Monaco court, where Rutherford, as well as her ex-husband, Daniel Giersch, were both present for the hearing.
Since 2012, Rutherford's children have been living in Europe with her ex-husband, whom she divorced in 2010. The former couple previously shared custody of their children, but since Giersch's visa was revoked, the TV star has been forced to fly to France to see her kids (a California court previously ruled that the children must live abroad in order to uphold the joint custody agreement).
"I am pleased with the outcome and that the children will be coming to the US for a part of their summer vacation," Rutherford said in a statement to People. "I am reassured by the Monaco process and the judge. Although I still maintain my legal objections about Monaco hearing the case, my serenity is restored."
While the ruling is a win for Rutherford, the former Gossip Girl star did express her disapproval over Monaco's jurisdiction. A phone conference between the Los Angeles Superior Court and the Judge of the Monaco Court was previously held earlier this month to discuss jurisdiction, although no decision will be made until a hearing next month.
"The children are allowed to come to the U.S. because Monaco knows it has no authority to assert jurisdiction," Wendy Murphy, who represents the children on behalf of Rutherford in New York, tells People. "So it's not that Monaco 'allowed' the children to return to their own country, it's that they had no choice – because American citizens can never be forced to live in a foreign country – period. Unless the kids are dual citizens – and these kids are not."
Rutherford's case, which led the actress to file for bankruptcy in 2013, has attracted national attention and has even gained celebrity support from stars such as Kris Jenner, Selma Blair, Melanie Griffith and more.
She and her husband are set to face off in a Los Angeles court on July 9.