Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner’s divorce and fight for custody of their two daughter’s will likely get uglier in the coming months.
“It’s going to be a long court battle,” famed New York trial lawyer Aaron Richard Golub — who has worked on high-profile cases with celebrities including Gisele Bündchen, Martin Scorsese and Brooke Shields — tells Pvnew, adding that the “battle is going to swing like a pendulum.”
Golub is not involved with Jonas and Turner’s case, but says things could get way more complicated now that the case includes three separate jurisdictions and two different legal systems.
Jonas initially filed for divorce in Florida earlier this month, while Turner filed a “wrongful retention” suit in New York on Thursday. Turner is also reportedly planning on filing a separate lawsuit in the UK.
The author of “Ruckus” predicts that the lawsuits and bitterness will “go on with appeals for years and the children will suffer.”
Divorce lawyer Val Kleyman from Kleyman Domestic Relations Law Firm — who is also not involved in the case — echoes Golub’s opinion.
“It is going to be complicated because ultimately one of the parties [Turner or Jonas] will have to yield on where the children will live or the court will have to make a decision,” he tells Pvnew.
Kleyman also notes the added wrinkle of which court system — the US or the UK — will be making that decision.
Turner filed a lawsuit in a Manhattan court asking for “the immediate return” of their two daughters — Willa, 3, and their 1-year-old daughter, whose name has not been revealed — to her home country, England.
In the filing, the “Game of Thrones” alum claimed that the “wrongful retention” began Sept. 20 when Jonas withheld the toddler’s passports so they couldn’t leave the US.
“The Father has possession of the children’s passports,” the documents alleged. “He refuses to return the passports to the Mother and refuses to send the children home to England with the Mother.”
In the bombshell lawsuit, Turner, 27, alleged that she and Jonas, 34, agreed over Christmas 2022 that they would make England their “forever home” and began looking for suitable schools for their oldest daughter, Willa, in the country.
“The parties were both excited for the family’s move to England,” the documents stated.
They sold their Miami home and found their dream home in the English countryside and officially relocated on April 10, 2023, according to the documents.
Because Turner was filming a miniseries “Joan” during the summer, the estranged couple agreed that the children should travel with Jonas over the summer, as he toured the US with his brothers and would have more free time during the day.
The lawsuit alleged that the arrangement was always supposed to be “temporary.”
It also claimed that the breakdown of the marriage “happened very suddenly” following an argument on Aug. 15.
Jonas hit back at the claims Thursday, insisting he did not “abduct” their daughters.
In a statement from his rep, the Jonas Brothers band member labeled the lawsuit a “harsh legal position” that goes against the spirit of their “amicable co-parenting setup” which they were supposedly as recently as last Sunday when they met to discuss custody arrangements.
The “Waffle House” singer filed for divorce in a Miami court on Sept.5, which Turner claimed she found out about “through the media.”
The DNCE co-founder and “The Staircase” actress began dating in 2016 and tied the knot in a surprise Las Vegas ceremony three years later.
They followed their Sin City nuptials with a flashy wedding in France.
The pair welcomed daughter Willa in July 2020 and a second child two years later.
