Kelly Rutherford's Ex's Attorney Says Kids Were 'Happy' as They Kissed Her Goodbye: 'It Was Done Very Civilly'

After spending six weeks with their mother in New York, Kelly Rutherford's children were sent back to Monaco to reunite with their father – despite the Gossip Girl star's last-ditch effort to keep them on American soil.
she said in her statement. "I hope that this decision will end this painful litigation, and that my children will be allowed to live in peace in their own country,"

  "The kids didn't seem to look like they missed a beat. They were happy, they kissed their mother goodbye, they were happy to see their grandmother, they had smiles on their face. And by the way, they're two beautiful little kids," Giersch's attorney Ira Garr told reporters. "The only complaint they had is they really wanted to get back to playing; it was boring in the courtroom."

Kelly Rutherford with Hermes and Helena

Eugene Gologursky / Getty

"They just hugged and said goodbye, and she said she'd see them soon, and they were very, very easily transitioned to their grandmother, who they know very well," said Robert Michaels, another lawyer on Giersch's team.

"It was done very civilly," Garr added. "Ms. Rutherford said, 'Oh, you're going to see Papa, and you're going to go with Oma.' And the kids seemed fine."

Rutherford did not speak to reporters after the hearing, slipping out through a side entrance. Neither she nor her attorney could be immediately reached for comment.

"It's really unfortunate that it came to this, and that Hermes and Helena were forced to say goodbye to their mother in a courthouse, rather than having a natural transition," Robert Wallack, a lawyer who represented Rutherford in federal court last year, tells PEOPLE. "However, today's proceedings played out exactly as expected, and it now appears the next chapter of this story will be written in Monaco."