Hollywood actress Sophie Turner sues singer Joe Jonas seeking return of children to England

Sophie Turner is suing estranged husband Joe Jonas to allow their two daughters to go with her to England, after he refused to give her the children's passports, according to a Manhattan court document filed Thursday.

The "wrongful retention" of the kids in New York City comes a little more than two weeks after Jonas, a 34-year-old musician with the Jonas Brothers, filed for divorce from Turner, a 27-year-old actress known for "Game of Thrones," who said in the petition that she only learned of the divorce filing through media reports.

"The children were to be returned home to England on September 20, 2023," the filing said. "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."

After dating him for three years, Turner wed Jonas in 2019 in a small ceremony following that year's Billboard Music Awards, which the couple attended. They later had a larger wedding in France. Their daughters, whose full names aren't public, were born in 2020 and 2022 in the United States.

According to the document Turner filed in the Southern District of New York, she and Jonas had agreed before the family started traveling that the children would go with their father and a nanny while he toured with the Jonas Brothers in August. Turner said she was supposed to pick up the girls Wednesday after finishing a "very intense" filming schedule and return with them to England.

The same document outlines relationship troubles that apparently disrupted those plans.

"The breakdown of the parties' marriage happened very suddenly," the petition said. "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."

When Turner and Jonas met Sunday to discuss their separation, Jonas said he wasn't going to return the kids' passports to Turner, the petition said, and on Tuesday, Jonas' Florida attorney confirmed the passports wouldn't be handed over.

Publicists for Jonas tell a different story.

"Joe's impression of the meeting was that they had reached an understanding that they would work together towards an amicable co-parenting setup," a representative for Jonas said in a statement. "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 children were born in the U.S. and have spent the vast majority of their lives in the U.S."

According to Turner's court filing, the pair hadn't initially decided on a permanent home for the family because of the frequent travel necessary for their jobs. They mostly stayed in rentals and hotels in New York and London or their now-sold property in Miami over the past year. In April, the family settled in England - Turner's home country - and they purchased a property, now under construction in Oxford.

Jonas filed for divorce from Turner in Miami on the grounds that their marriage was "irretrievably broken." A few days later, Turner and Jonas released a joint statement on the divorce on social media: "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."