Marilyn Stowe Blog

News: US actresses embroiled in international custody disputes

High profile US actresses Halle Berry, 46, and Kelly Rutherford, 43, are both currently embroiled in international custody disputes with former partners.

Berry, famous for her roles in Die Another Day, Monster’s Ball and X-Men, has expressed an interest in moving to France with her current partner, French actor Olivier Martinez, and her four-year old daughter Nahla by previous partner Gabriel Aubry, a Canadian model. According to reports, Aubry has opposed the move, as he fears becoming alienated from his daughter.

As Berry’s stated intention in moving to France is to escape the attentions of the paparazzi, Aubrey’s lawyers are reported to be planning to use the recent publication of intrusive photos of the Duchess of Cambridge as an argument in the continuing case.

Meanwhile, Kelly Rutherford, best known for her role in US TV show Gossip Girl, is in dispute with ex-husband Daniel Giersch, a German businessman. Rutherford and Giersch divorced in acrimonious circumstances in 2009, while she was pregnant with their second child, but Giersch remained an active father until April this year, when his US visa was revoked and he was forced to leave the country.

As Giersch could no longer travel to the United States, Rutherford travelled to various countries, including Bermuda and Canada, to allow her children to see their father. Then last month, Judge Theresa Beaudet of California Superior Court ruled that the two children, aged five and three, should go to live in France with their father in order to allow equal access.

The judge said: “The best interests of the children will be served because the relocation plan for France is the only plan that offers the possibility of nearly equal parenting time while Giersch cannot return to the U.S.”

Neither Rutherford nor Giersch are French citizens and both children were born in the US. According to reports, Rutherford plans to appeal the ruling.