Kelly Rutherford has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy amid her costly child custody battle with ex-husband Daniel Giersch, according to a new report.
TMZ obtained documents showing that the “Gossip Girl” star has spent $1.5 million on legal fees in her 2010 divorce and subsequent custody battle. In addition, she reportedly owes $350,000 in taxes for 2012 and has more than $25,000 in credit card debt. Her debt allegedly totals $2,021,832, with her current monthly income dropping from $468,000 to at a modest $1,279.33 after the CW series wrapped late last year.
According to the bankruptcy petition filed last month, Rutherford has $11,487 in her checking account. The 44-year-old star, also known for her role as Megan Lewis on “Melrose Place,” also allegedly has around $5,000 in furniture, $5,000 in clothes and $1500 in jewelry.
Page Six exclusively reported in August that a California judge ruled that Rutherford’s kids, Hermes, 6, and Helena, 4, must live with their German businessman father in France after his visa was revoked, which has forced Rutherford to subsequently fly overseas 40 times just to see them.
The beautiful blonde actress told us back then that her kids will remain in France till at least September, when a judge is supposed to make a permanent ruling in the case.
“A lot of mothers were really shocked by this,” she said of her situation. “I think it would make any mom think, ‘If it can happen to her, then it can happen to me.’ ”
According to court papers filed by Rutherford’s attorneys, Giersch’s visa was revoked after investigating attorney Edith L. Curry claimed, “Neither Mr. Giersch nor any of his US-registered shell companies ever filed the requisite US tax returns and also engaged in visa fraud.”
The papers claim that Giersch used a convicted and disbarred lawyer to sponsor his visa and that while Giersch sold more than $5.5 million worth of real estate, he never paid taxes to the IRS.
Giersch’s lawyer, Fahi Takesh Hallin, told us, “[Curry] has made a lot of allegations in the document, which the family court has struck off. It is out of the realm of the family court and is an immigration issue.”