Southern Charm's Kathryn Dennis Gets Joint Temporary Custody of Her Children with Thomas Ravenel
Southern Charm star Kathryn Dennis and her ex Thomas Ravenel have been awarded joint temporary custody of their two children.
The decision came following a hearing in South Carolina, according to South Carolina Family Court documents obtained by PEOPLE. Dennis, 28, and Ravenel, 57, share daughter Kensie, 5, and son Saint, 3.
The judge’s temporary ruling designed Ravenel as the children’s primary legal custodian, Ravenel’s attorney, Kelley Andrews-Edwards, tells PEOPLE.
“[Dennis] now has every other long weekend with a midweek overnight,” Andrews-Edwards explains. Prior to the hearing, she says Dennis and Ravenel had joint physical custody on a “week on week off basis.”
While Dennis was given joint legal custody, Andrews-Edwards reveals Ravenel was awarded “primary decision-making authority, meaning that if the parties disagree about an important issue regarding the children, Mr. Ravenel makes the ultimate decision.”
In addition, Dennis has been ordered to undergo cognitive behavioral therapy and the parties are required to attend co-parenting sessions, Andrew-Edwards tells PEOPLE.
Dennis’ visits with the kids will not be supervised, according to the court documents, which added that the former couple has been ordered to work together on health issues and education.
An attorney for Dennis did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
A judge will make a final custody ruling at a future time.
The hearing comes weeks after Ravenel reportedly requested that the court strip Dennis of custody of their children after he claimed she had tested positive on a drug test.
Ravenel had requested that the court grant him full custody of his children, according to court documents obtained by The Blast in July. The outlet also reported Ravenel said in the documents that on June 13, 2019, he and Dennis both had to submit drug tests — including blood, alcohol, urine and hair drug tests — as ordered by the court.
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One day later, on June 14, “while in the possession of the children, Kathryn produced a urine test positive for marijuana, benzodiazepines and amphetamines,” Ravenel claimed in the documents, according to the outlet.
According to the documents, Ravenel said Dennis has prescriptions for benzodiazepines and amphetamines.
Dennis, though, “disputes the veracity of the June 14, 2019, urine tests because her hair test was negative,” according to the documents.
But Ravenel alleges that the mother of his children wears wigs and hair extensions, and also colors her hair, which could affect the accuracy of the tests.
While the father of two reportedly stated in the documents that Dennis produced a negative urine test following the positive test, he asserted that “the marijuana detected in the June 14, 2019 test could have been flushed out of her urine by that time,” according to the documents.
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Additionally, he alleged that Dennis has purchased fake urine tests in the past and that her mother is primarily caring for the children.
Dennis lost custody of Kensie and Saint after failing a drug test and entering rehab in 2016, but she now says she is sober, and before the judge’s most recent temporary ruling had earned back 50/50 custody.
In October, 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 has denied all the allegations.
