It’s always important to talk to your lawyer about anything you are thinking about doing that may affect your custody agreement, but this is even more true when you are fighting a custody battle. Every decision you make and action you take has the possibility of affecting the outcome of your case. This is true for small things, such as replying to an email from your ex in a nasty tone or bigger decisions such as refusing to follow a standing court order.
In the case of actress Kelly Rutherford, the decision to refuse to send her children back to their father at the end of their vacation with her in the United States may have been the reason she lost the ability to travel with them. Earlier this year, Rutherford also defied a court order to bring the children with her to a court appearance, where they were to be given into the custody of their paternal grandmother who would fly them home to Monaco.
However, it appears that these two decisions were deciding factors, at least in part, in the Monaco court’s decision to ban Rutherford from traveling with the children outside of France or Monaco, a privilege she previously enjoyed. Those who have been following the case agreed that this was the expected outcome after the events of the summer, as courts do not generally look favorably upon parents who show contempt for court orders.
While this case was definitely one of extremes, these kinds of issues can also happen even in domestic custody disputes. A parent who goes against a court order, even just one time, could be putting the current situation and visitation rights at risk.
Source: People, “How Kelly Rutherford ‘Bought Her Kids a One-Way Ticket to Monaco’: A PEOPLE Expert Predicted the Heartbreaking Outcome in August,” Lindsay Kimble, Dec. 16, 2015