Update!

Kelly Rutherford Files Appeal After Ex Daniel Giersch Is Awarded Full Custody of Kids

Actress posts Instagram quote in light of recent legal decision

By Bruna Nessif Dec 17, 2015 9:55 PMTags
Kelly RutherfordKris Connor/ Getty Images

UPDATE: A federal appellate court refused to take up Rutherford's appeal of a New York judge's ruling awarding Giersch full custody of their children, per documents obtained by E! News.

According to People, she will be able to see the kids in Monaco, where they reside permanently with their dad, over the Christmas holidays as part of the custody arrangement being enforced by the Monaco court.
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Kelly Rutherford's long and tedious custody battle is far from over.

The actress continues fighting a legal war against her ex-husband Daniel Giersch over the custody of their U.S.-born son Hermes, 9, and daughter Helena, 6, after a Monaco judge granted full custody to Giersch back in November.

E! News learns Rutherford filed an appeal three days ago. The final determination and decision hasn't been handed down yet, so the final decision regarding her appeal has yet to occur.

According to The Daily Mail, the court order stipulates that the parents must make decisions concerning their two children's "health, schooling, religious education and any change of residence," jointly. But the children will live with their father in Monaco, and the 47-year-old star would only be permitted to "exercise her visiting and accommodation rights exclusively in France and Monaco."

Rutherford posted a quote on her Instagram today which fans are speculating is correlated to the recent events surrounding her family. The post read, "Choose and direct yourself to be peaceful inside regardless of what's happening outside."

The Gossip Girl star filed for divorce from the German businessman, her second husband, in 2008 while pregnant with Helena and the split was finalized in 2010.

The parents had a joint custody arrangement but, in 2012, when the children traveled to Monaco to spend the summer with their dad, a judge ruled that the kids should remain there and attend school because Giersch, his U.S. visa having been revoked, couldn't travel to the U.S. to see them. Rutherford would then go to Europe to visit her son and daughter.

In May, Helena and Hermès flew to the States to visit their mom for the summer and a Los Angeles judge awarded physical custody to Rutherford, but another judge agreed with Giersch's camp, who argued that the California court did not have jurisdiction over the matter. A New York judge also concluded that they didn't have jurisdiction and referred the matter back to the Monaco court.

When Rutherford was supposed to put the kids on a plane back to Monaco in August, she instead refused, prompting an accusation of child abduction from her ex's attorney.

A New York judge then ordered the children's return to Europe and they flew back with their paternal grandmother.

—Reporting by Senta Scarborough

(Originally published Dec. 15, 2015, at 2:06 p.m. PT)

Watch: Kelly Rutherford Turns Activist