Sophie Turner Files Lawsuit Against Joe Jonas To Bring Their Children Back To England

After Joe Jonas filed for divorce from Sophie Turner on Sept. 5, the Game of Thrones actor took action. On Sept. 21, she filed a lawsuit against Jonas to bring their two daughters to her home country of England, requesting “the immediate return of children wrongfully removed or wrongfully retained,” according to documents obtained by Page Six.

Days later, on Sept. 25, Turner and Jonas reached a custody agreement to keep their children in New York while settling their divorce. As per court documents obtained by People, they agreed that their daughters must remain in the Southern and Eastern districts of New York for the interim.

Turner’s lawsuit stated that the estranged couple met two weeks after Jonas’ divorce filing and agreed on a plan for the children — 3-year-old daughter, Willa, and a 1-year-old daughter whose name is not known — to go with Turner to England. She alleged that Jonas was withholding their passports, forbidding them from leaving the United States. “The Father has possession of the children’s passports,” the documents claimed. “He refuses to return the passports to the Mother and refuses to send the children home to England with the Mother.”

Jonas’ rep responded to the lawsuit in a statement to Page Six, calling it a “harsh legal position” that goes against the “amicable co-parenting setup” they were trying to establish and clarifying that Jonas did not “abduct” their children. “Joe is seeking shared parenting with the kids so that they are raised by both their mother and father, and is of course also okay with the kids being raised both in the U.S. and the UK,” the rep said, noting that the children are joint citizens in both countries.

Their separation came after multiple reports that the two were “headed for divorce” and had been having “serious problems” for the past six months. Turner claimed that she and Jonas agreed over Christmas 2022 that England would be their “forever home,” saying they “were both excited for the family’s move,” and officially relocated in April before she started filming her miniseries Joan. Turner said she later agreed “with hesitation” that their daughters would travel with Jonas across the United States as his band kicked off their tour in August. She acknowledged that Jonas sometimes spent more time with them during the day while she was filming, but noted that it was only meant to be a “temporary arrangement.”

However, Turner alleges he didn’t abide by the agreement after their relationship deteriorated following an Aug. 15 argument. (He filed for divorce two weeks later, which she claims she found out about “through the media.”) Jonas’ rep denies this story.

The same day that Jonas filed, they released a joint statement on Instagram confirming their split. “After four wonderful years of marriage we have mutually decided to amicably end our marriage,” they wrote. “There are many speculative narratives as to why but, truly this is a united decision and we sincerely hope that everyone can respect our wishes for privacy for us and our children.”