Sophie Turner is suing her estranged husband Joe Jonas for custody of their two daughters as their divorce gets underway. Turner filed her lawsuit in New York City on Thursday, calling for “the immediate return of children wrongfully removed or wrongfully retained.” The lawsuit paints a grim new picture of this shocking separation.
Turner’s lawsuit was obtained by reporters from Page Six, and it claims that the “wrongful retention” of her children began on Wednesday, Sept. 20. Previous reports indicated that Jonas had his two young daughters with him on the road for his band’s ongoing tour, while Turner was at home in England. She now wants to return there with her children while the divorce plays out here in the U.S. Their 3-year-old daughter is named Willa, while their younger daughter’s name is not yet known to the public. She was born in July of 2022.
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Turner’s filing says that she and Jonas agreed to relocate to England back in December of 2022, planning on making their family’s “forever home” there. it says: “The parties were both excited for the family’s move to England.” They put their home in Miami, Florida up for sale while beginning a long-term rent-to-own deal on a home in England. They first moved there in April of 2023. Turner had acting jobs in the U.K., but at that point Jonas and his brothers began planning a reunion tour for their band.
According to Turner, she and Jonas agreed “with hesitation” to send their daughters to the U.S. with the Jonas Brothers’ tour. They reasoned that Jonas would have more time to spend with them during the day than Turner would as she was filming the TV series Joan. Jonas could then arrange for family or hired help to watch the children at night while he was performing.
“The children would then at least be able to spend some time during the day with one of their parents until the Mother finished her filming commitments,” reads the lawsuit, noting that this was always meant to be a “temporary arrangement.” According to Turner, the dissolution of her marriage came in the midst of this transitional period, and now Jonas is refusing to let the children go home to England as planned.
Jonas’ attorney reportedly confirmed that he will not let his daughters return to England and will not return their passports to Turner. At that point, Turner took things to court with this lawsuit. She noted in the court documents that she will be filing a similar lawsuit in the U.K., and that courts there will regard this as a “breach” of existing custody rights.
The lawsuit includes other telling details as well – it says that the “breakdown” of Jonas and Turner’s wedding began with a major argument on Aug. 15, and that Turner did not learn about the divorce filing from Jonas, but “from the media.” It also says that she and Jonas had a meeting last week to discuss their divorce, and that at the time Jonas did not argue against their plan to send the kids home to England. So far, Jonas’ team has not responded publicly to this lawsuit.
