When she finishes up her stint as a judge on the current season of America’s Got Talent, she’ll be heading to Europe to film a new season of Germany‘s Next Top Model.
But the planned trip is setting Heidi Klum at loggerheads with her former husband Seal over whether their four children will travel with her and now its turned into a legal fight.
According to court documents obtained by TheBlast.com, Klum is seeking an emergency hearing before a judge and requesting an order forcing Seal to allow her to take the kids to Germany in October.
Legal battle: Heidi Klum, pictured left in March, is seeking an emergency hearing and court order forcing ex-husband Seal, right in 2018, to allow their kids to travel with her to Germany. The British musician is concerned about the safety of traveling and living abroad during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
In the documents, it appears that the British musician is concerned about the safety of traveling and living abroad during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
He prefers that the children remain in Los Angeles, where he also resides, and are cared for by Klum’s ‘staff’, the model states in her legal filing.
The former couple, who married in 2005 and finalized their divorce in 2014, share joint legal and physical custody of daughters Leni, 16, and Lou, 10, and sons Henry, 14, and Johan, 13.
In requesting an emergency hearing to obtain a court order, Klum, 47, states she is contracted to be in Germany for three-and-a-half months and that the children do not want to be parted from her for such a long time.
Exes: The former couple, who married in 2005 and finalized their divorce in 2014, share joint legal and physical custody of daughters Leni, 16, and Lou, 10, and sons Henry, 14, and Johan, 13
Family: Klum, 47, states she is contracted to be in Germany for three-and-a-half months and that the children do not want to be parted from her for such a long time. Pictured in LA in 2019
Famous dad: As The Blast reported, the model claims that Seal, 57, (pictured performing in LA in January) only sees the kids ‘sporadically’ and the majority of the time they are living with her
As The Blast reported Thursday, she claims that Seal, 57, only sees the kids ‘sporadically’ and that the majority of the time they are living with her.
‘In 2020 so far, he has spent about six weeks total with Leni, six weeks total with Henry, ten days total with Johan, and ten days total with Lou,’ she states in the documents.
The Kiss From A Rose hitmaker – real name Henry Samuel – has previously permitted the kids to travel with their famous mother, but after initially agreeing in April to the fall trip to Germany, Klum says he has changed his mind and now won’t sign off on it.
‘My work in television supports our family. Neither Henry (Seal) nor I pay child support to one another, and because our children are with me the vast majority of the time, I take on a larger portion of their regular expenses,’ she explained.
‘I am well aware of all the necessary precautions associated with the Covid-19 virus, and would never put our children at risk,’ she went on. ‘ I have taken all the precautions for Germany the same way I do in the US.’
Klum adds: ‘Considering the current state of the global economy due to the Covid-19 virus, I am grateful to still have a job and have the ability to provide for my family.’
Klum said in her filing: ‘Neither Henry (Seal) nor I pay child support to one another, and because our children are with me the vast majority of the time, I take on a larger portion of their regular expenses’
Europe-bound: Klum is scheduled to travel to Germany in October to film season 16 of Next Top Model. She’s pictured on the reality competition last year
New husband: The blonde beauty has been married to German guitarist Tom Kaulitz, 30, since February 2019. They’re pictured in January in Los Angeles
She also claims that all four children want to go to Germany with her and have told their father the same thing.
‘They do not want to stay in LA with their dad without me,’ she claimed in her legal documents, adding: ‘I cannot imagine them being without me for months.’
In the filing, according to TheBlast.com, Klum included a declaration and letter from eldest child Leni who, she says, is set to do her first modeling gig for Vogue Germany during the fall trip.
In the declaration, the teen states: ‘I love my father very much and don’t want to hurt him by ‘picking sides,’ and this shouldn’t be taken as picking sides, but I would like to say for myself and on behalf of my 3 siblings we believe we should be staying with our mom and traveling to Germany.’
Petition: In her court filing, Klum included a declaration from daughter Leni, 16, in which she states she and her siblings want to go to Germany with their famous mom. Klum says Leni has a planned photo shoot for German Vogue during their stay
Plea to judge: ‘They do not want to stay in LA with their dad without me,’ Klum claimed in her request for a hearing, adding: ‘I cannot imagine them being without me for months’