Joe Jonas filed for divorce from Sophie Turner on Sept. 5, and on Thursday the ‘Game of Thrones’ actress sued the singer for the return of their children to her native England. Turner’s legal team had initiated legal custody proceedings as soon as September 20th, according to court documents. In the wake of their split, Turner and Jonas are divided on where their two young daughters should reside — and lawyers tell PEOPLE that things can get contentious when it comes to international custody disputes.
In the documents filed through the Hague Convention, an international treaty, Turner claims she and Jonas had agreed England would be their “forever home” after they sold their house in Miami in April. In recent months, the actress has been filming the miniseries Joan in England, while the couple’s daughters accompanied Jonas on tour. In the wake of the back and-fourth, PEOPLE spoke with Marilyn Chinitz, matrimonial partner at Blank Rome LLP and David Glass, a California-based family law attorney with EPGR Lawyers, neither of whom are involved in Turner and Jonas’ legal dispute.
“It doesn’t matter where they spent the majority of their time,” says Glass, citing the Hague Convention’s clauses built around child abduction from one parent. “The question is: where did they spend the last six months or where did they spend the longest extended period of time in this case?” Typically, he says, “you need to live in a new international jurisdiction for six months before the court can say that that country is the children’s habitual residence.”
A hearing date for the federal case over where the couple’s children will reside has not yet been set. To read the full article, click here.
