Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner are headed to trial over child custody come early next year — but they are still battling over where the case will take place.
A New York judge ruled on Tuesday, October 3, that Jonas, 34, and Turner, 27, will start trial on January 2, 2024, Us Weekly can confirm. The judge also set the location as Manhattan as it is a federal case involving international custody.
Turner, who is a U.K. native, is pushing for the pair’s two daughters to live in England following their split. Jonas, meanwhile, wants the kids to stay in the U.S. (The pair welcomed their first daughter, Willa, in July 2020. Their second baby, Delphine, was born in summer 2022.)
While the judge’s most recent ruling was made in New York, Turner is asking that the official trial take place in a U.K. court. Jonas once again is fighting for the trial to continue in the Big Apple.
For now, the judge has decided the estranged couple’s girls will temporarily remain in New York until the custody case is resolved.
Us confirmed on September 5 that Jonas filed for divorce after four years of marriage. In the weeks that have followed, their custody battle has gotten messy.
Part of the issue is that their children are dual citizens. According to court documents, Willa was born in California but is a “dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States.” The exes’ youngest daughter was born in Florida and like her sister has both U.K. and U.S. citizenship.
“Joe is seeking shared parenting with the kids so that they are raised by both their mother and father, and is of course also OK with the kids being raised both in the U.S. and the U.K.,” Jonas’ attorney told Us in a statement last month.
Jonas’ legal team, however, pointed out: “The children were born in the U.S. and have spent the vast majority of their lives in the U.S. They are American citizens.”
Turner argued in a September court filing that she and Jonas had “not, until April 2023, committed to settling down roots in any particular place.” Turner and the Jonas Brothers singer have lived in a variety of locations since their May 2019 nuptials, including Miami and elsewhere on the east coast.
The Game of Thrones alum then claimed: “All throughout their marriage, and particularly after their children were born, the parties often discussed their desire to raise their children in England and for their children to attend school in England. The parties regarded England as a safe location to raise their children.”
Turner also included a letter written by Jonas in June as proof that they were previously in agreement about relocating from the States to the U.K. She also stated in her court docs that she and Jonas put down a 10 percent deposit on a home in Wallingford, Oxford, just months before separating.
“When my wife and I decided we were going to spend more time in the U.K. and search for a permanent home, our daughter expressed three unwavering requirements, having chickens, a pony, and a Wendy house,” Jonas wrote in the letter, per Turner’s September filing. “Well, many of the houses we viewed met this criteria, the moment we turned the corner and caught sight of the charming blue shutters adorning [this home], we experienced a sense of magic, unlike anything we had felt before.”
As the custody battle continues to play out, a source exclusively told Us that the estranged spouses are not on the same page about the future. “[Joe] is hoping they can come to an amicable agreement,” an insider said last month. “[She’s] dead-set on moving to the UK full-time.”
