In August 2023, divorce rumors started swirling around the Jonas Brothers singer, Joe Jonas, 34, and Game of Thrones actress, Sophie Turner, 27. The parties were married in a surprise ceremony in Las Vegas in 2019, then welcomed their first daughter into the world in July 2020. Two years later, the couple announced the birth of their second daughter in July 2022. After four years of marriage, the boy band singer filed for divorce.
According to the petition for dissolution of marriage that Jonas filed on September 5, 2023, in Miami Dade County, Florida, the couple’s marriage was “irretrievably broken.” The petition also stated that the couple’s two daughters had been residing with Jonas in Miami and other parts of the country throughout the duration of the band’s tour, but that “it is in the best interests of the minor children that the parties have shared parental responsibility.”
Turner’s petition followed on September 20; however, her fight leans on a different issue: Turner’s petition alleged the “wrongful detention” of the parties’ minor daughters and sought the return of the children to their “habitual residence” in England. The petition further explains that Turner and Jonas had previously agreed to allow the children to travel to the United States in August, where their father was on tour. However, this arrangement was intended to be temporary, and that children were to return home with Turner in mid-September. Turner alleged that Jonas retained the children’s passports and refused to give them to Turner to return to England. On September 25, 2023, the Florida Court entered an interim consent order ordering Jonas and Turner to keep the children in New York for the time being.
So, you may be asking, what does this have to do with me? Well, if you are considering divorce or filing for a child custody action, it is important to know the laws around what is considered the appropriate venue for filing, and how that Court will retain jurisdiction. In the United States, The Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) was designed to promote uniform jurisdiction and enforcement provisions in interstate child-custody and child access cases. The UCCJEA requires State courts to enforce valid child-custody and visitation determinations made by other State courts. The Act helps to diminish the fight between conflicting interpretations in courts across the country and ensures the enforceability of child-custody orders.
Turner’s petition turns toward The Hague Convention, which deals with international wrongful removal and retention of children. The Hague Convention provides legal mechanisms to expedite the return of children who have been abducted or wrongfully retained. The UCCJEA provides for the enforcement of Hague Convention and provides clarifying provisions regarding deference to foreign custody determinations or United States jurisdiction.
Filing for custody does not have to be as much of a spectacle as it is for Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner. If you have any questions about where to file for child custody, or other family law matters in general, please contact us at info@wassermanlawoffice.com or 410-842-1070. The legal team at Wasserman Family Law is here to help guide and advocate for you.
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