Kelly Rutherford’s child custody case
A California judge has ruled that the state does not have jurisdiction to hear Kelly Rutherford’s custody case. For child custody cases in North Carolina and other states, children must have some connection with the state in order for a court to have jurisdiction. In Rutherford’s case, the children had only spent about a week in California during the last two years.
Rutherford is fighting to regain custody of her two children from their father, who has been living with the children in Monaco since 2013. She and the father had joint custody of the children before the father lost his visa and a California judge ruled that the children should live in Europe with him. The father has not been allowed to re-enter the United States with the two children since his visa was revoked.
To see the children, Rutherford has been traveling to Monaco to visit. The father has been encouraging the children to have a good relationship with Rutherford, according to his attorney. Rutherford has not been accused of doing anything wrong in regard to the children or the custody case.
Child custody cases are generally decided according to the best interests of the children. Most judges believe that being able to see both parents as much as possible benefits a child, absent accusations of abuse or neglect. This case is unique because there are not many prior cases of one parent being denied access to their children because the other parent has been forced to live outside the country. Parents are denied custody of their children for many other reasons, such as accusations that one parent is unfit. A parent who wants custody or more visitation with their children may wish to consult an attorney who has experience in this type of family law matter.