Kathryn Dennis on Reaching Custody Agreement with Ex Thomas Ravenel: 'A Weight Has Been Lifted'
Kathryn Dennis is feeling optimistic about the future.
The Southern Charm star opened up to PEOPLE about the end of her contentious custody battle with ex Thomas Ravenel on Friday at BravoCon, saying she feels like a “huge weight has been lifted.”
“I feel good that we actually are moving forward,” she said. “I feel like we had been at a stand still and my whole life has been stunted from that. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted.”
Dennis previously confirmed that she and Ravenel had reached a custody agreement, saying on Twitter that the former couple had “resolved all matters related to our children.”
“Just want to let my fans hear from me officially that Thomas and I have resolved all matters related to our children,” she wrote Tuesday. “I believe that this joint custody arrangement is in our children’s best interests. Happy to move forward. Thank y’all for all of your patience, support & love.”
Dennis and Ravenel share daughter Kensington Calhoun, 5, and son Saint, 3.
Ravenel, 57, and Dennis, 28, have agreed to share joint legal and physical custody of Kensington and Saint, with Ravenel having “primary legal custody,” his lawyer told PEOPLE earlier this month.
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“The parties’ custody agreement awarded Mr. Ravenel primary legal custody of the minor children,” his lawyer said in a statement. “The parties currently share physical custody of the children on a 36%/64% split, with Ms. Dennis having the children five out of fourteen overnights and Mr. Ravenel having the children nine out of fourteen overnights. This time-sharing arrangement is scheduled to change in the Summer of 2020, whereby the parties will then share physical custody of the children on a 50/50 week-on week-off basis. Ms. Dennis is required to employ a nanny during the majority of her time with the children and Mr. Ravenel has agreed to pay the nanny’s salary in lieu of child support.”
According to court documents obtained by All About the Tea, Dennis and Ravenel have created a schedule through summer 2020 and have also created a holiday and special occasions agreement, including Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring/Easter break and Mother’s Day/Father’s Day.
They also agreed to not have “any person with whom they are romantically involved (excluding a spouse) stay overnight with them while the children are present,” the documents read.
Ravenel and Dennis both agreed not to “make any disparaging remarks about the other parent to the minor children, in the presence of the minor children, or within earshot of the minor children, or allow or encourage others to do the same,” according to the documents, or “post any negative remarks about the other on social media.”
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In the agreement, the parents have agreed to “attend co-parenting/parallel parenting sessions with Dr. Sandy Cassell for a minimum of 10 sessions, the cost of which shall be divided equally between the parties.”
Their agreement comes three years after Dennis lost full custody of her children in 2016 and entered rehab after testing positive for marijuana. Ravenel, who no longer stars on Southern Charm, was awarded full custody at the time.
In October 2018, she filed documents in Charleston seeking to obtain primary custody of the two children after Ravenel was arrested and charged with assault and battery in the second degree. Ravenel pleaded guilty in September to third-degree assault and battery after his children’s former nanny accused him of rape. He agreed to pay a $500 fine in lieu of a 30-day jail sentence.
Ravenel and Nanny Dawn, 44 — who asked that she be publicly identified by her first name and occupation for her own privacy — reached a $125,000 settlement in October, with Ravenel agreeing to pay $45,000 in her personal legal fees and an additional $80,000 to a local nonprofit aiding adult survivors of sexual assault.
