Joe Jonas lashes out at ex Sophie Turner's 'harsh' lawsuit over pair's children

The divorce between Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner has gotten messier, with the Game of Thrones actress suing her ex in a bid to force him to turn over the passports of their two young daughters so they can fly to England.

Joe filed for divorce from his wife of four years earlier this month, with Sophie claiming in her lawsuit that he is refusing to hand over the girls' passports so they can move to England with her.

Following news of Sophie's lawsuit, Joe has hit out, describing the actress' course of action as "harsh".

In a statement, Joe's representative said the "harsh legal position" goes against the "amicable co-parenting setup" that he thought they were working toward as recently as Sunday when they met to discuss custody.

"Less than 24 hours later, Sophie advised that she wanted to take the children permanently to the UK. Thereafter, she demanded via this filing that Joe hand over the children’s passports so that she could take them out of the country immediately," the rep told Page Six.

"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," they said, adding that the children are American citizens as they were born in the US.

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The singer also hit out at claims Sophie found out about the divorce "through the media", saying she was "aware" he was going to file for dissolution following "multiple conversations".

"This is an unfortunate legal disagreement about a marriage that is sadly ending. When language like ‘abduction’ is used, it is misleading at best, and a serious abuse of the legal system at worst. The children were not abducted," the statement adds.

The rep also addressed "disparaging" reports about Sophie, including claims she is a 'party girl'.

"Joe has already disavowed any and all statements purportedly made on his behalf that were disparaging of Sophie. They were made without his approval and are not consistent with his views."

The rep suggests Sophie is filing the lawsuit so she can move the divorce proceedings to the UK and move the children from the US "permanently".

On September 19, Joe's attorney confirmed he would not return the passports and refused to agree to let their daughters move to England, which is what seemingly kicked off Sophie's lawsuit.

Sophie files lawsuit over children's passports

Sophie's lawsuit claims the pair had always planned on moving their family to England and had been preparing to move into their 'forever home' in December after selling their house in Miami and buying in Oxfordshire in the UK.

The petition reads: "On or about September 17, 2023, the parties met to discuss their separation. The Mother reiterated the parties' agreed plan for the children to return home to England that week. The Father has possession of the children's passports. He refuses to return the passports to the Mother and refuses to send the children home to England with the Mother.

"The next day, the Mother's solicitor in England reconfirmed to the Father's Florida attorney that the Mother intended to return home to England with the children as planned on September 20, 2023, and requested that the children's passports be returned to the Mother.

"Based on the Father's express statements that he will not return the children to England and will not return the children's passports to the Mother, on September 20, 2023, the Mother has submitted her Hague Convention Application for Return to the Central Authority for England & Wales seeking the return of the children to England."

Sophie revealed the pair's plan on raising their daughters in England and that when they were together, they had planned for the actress and the couple's children to join Joe on the Jonas Brothers' US tour before moving the family to the UK.

The filing states that the pair had spoken about raising their children in England, as they see it as a "safe location".

It adds that Joe and Sophie "jointly decided that they would look for their 'forever home' in England, select a school for their older daughter in England, and settle their family in England".

"The parties agreed that the timing was right for the family to settle permanently in England, particularly given the older child's age. The parties were both excited for the family's move to England."

They found a "beautiful country property" in Oxfordshire, and "both agreed they would purchase the property for the family's permanent home".

The documents state: "The parties exchanged contracts with the sellers to purchase the property on July 7, 2023, with the completion date scheduled for December 2, 2023. The parties looked forward to spending their Christmas 2023 holiday with the children, family, and friends in their new home in England."

The pair listed their $15m Miami home earlier this year in preparation for the move, and "on or about April 10, 2023, the family relocated to England", staying in rental homes until they could move into the new house.

Sophie also disputed Joe's claim that the children had lived in Florida for six months before the pair's split.

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"In furtherance of the parties' shared plan, the children travelled to the United States with the Father and their nanny," the filing reads. "Thereafter, the breakdown of the parties' marriage happened very suddenly. The parties had an argument on August 15, 2023. On or about September 1, 2023, the Father filed a divorce case against the Mother in Florida. On or about September 5, 2023, the Mother found out through the media that the Father had filed for divorce.

"In his divorce filing in Florida, the Father seeks, inter alia, divorce, a parenting plan, and a timesharing schedule to be ordered by the Florida state court. The Father incorrectly claims in his divorce filings that the children have resided in Florida for the six months prior to the filing of the Father's Florida case."

It continued: "The children were to be returned home to England on September 20, 2023. The Father has prevented the children's return to England, which is a breach of the Mother's rights of custody under English law, England being the children's habitual residence."

The filing also states that having the children move around with Joe during his tour was only meant to be a "temporary arrangement", and it had been agreed that once Sophie finished filming her TV show she would travel to New York to collect the children and return to England.

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