Burning Up - The separation of Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas
Burning Up - The separation of Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas
Tuesday 16 July, 2024
On 1 September 2023 news broke that superstar couple Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas were headed for divorce after four years of marriage with Joe filing dissolution documents in Florida. While the world was taken by surprise by the split and rumours were milling as to the cause, the heat was turned up when Sophie filed proceedings in Manhattan seeking the immediate return of the couple’s two daughters, three-year-old Willa and one year old Delphine, to the UK.
2023 was coined the ‘year of divorce’ dominated by celebrity separations and scandal. This has placed a spotlight on family law issues and reflects the importance of carefully considering your children’s care arrangements in the wake of separation. For Sophie and Joe this has particularly highlighted issues where parents live on different sides of the globe.
Return of the children to the UK
On 21 September 2023 Sophie filed proceedings invoking the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of Child Abduction (1980), alleging that Joe had abducted and wrongfully retained their daughters in the US when it had been agreed they would return to the UK with Sophie. Both the US and the UK are signatories to the Hague Convention. The Hague Convention is an international agreement between a number of countries which aims to prevent child abduction and it can be invoked where one parent wrongfully removes or detains their child or children in another country. As part of the Hague Convention, the Central Authority in each country will see that the child or children are returned to their country of habitual residence.
As seen in Sophie and Joe’s case, determining a child’s habitual residence is not as simple as it sounds. Sophie and Joe have homes in both the UK and the US and moved regularly between the two with their daughters. Sophie argued that the UK was their daughters’ habitual residence relying on the fact that the couple had agreed to make England their ‘forever home’ in December 2022 and were planning to purchase a new house there. Sophie also stated that the parties agreed plan was for Sophie to travel to New York to collect the children and return to England on 20 September once she had finished filming on 14 September, however Joe allegedly withheld the children’s passports.
On 25 September 2023 an interim order was made by consent directing that the children were to remain in the US for the time being for Joe to prepare his defence. On 3 October 2023 the court allocated a hearing date in January 2024.
Mediation
Fortunately, Sophie and Joe participated in a mediation in October 2023 where they reached an interim agreement as to the children’s care arrangements and stated, “we look forward to being great co-parents”. The parties agreed that the children would spend time equally in both the US and the UK and alternating the children’s care between Sophie and Joe every few weeks.
This is an example of how parents can practicably reach a solution without having to go through the courts. It is important to note however that in terms of the children’s best interests and welfare, flying back and forth between the UK and US could be quite disruptive and unsettling. As the children get older, they will require more stability, therefore Sophie and Joe will likely need to revisit this arrangement in the future.
Main takeaways
Whilst separation and divorce can be an acrimonious and incredibly difficult process, this is not always the case. There are various positive and fruitful ways to resolve issues that ultimately put the children first:
- Family Dispute Resolution (FDR) is a mediation process that allows parents to try and reach agreement as to their children’s care arrangements without the involvement of lawyers. FDR is a prerequisite to filing an application with the family court for a parenting order under the Care of Children Act 2004 (COCA). On this basis, FDR should be the first port of call. It can be a very positive process for parents and is relatively inexpensive and avoids the litigious route. There may be a cost if your income is over a certain threshold, but the mediator would discuss this with you. You can find some more information on FDR at the following link: Family Dispute Resolution.
- If FDR has proven unsuccessful and proceedings are on foot, a round table meeting can be an appropriate option to try and resolve the outstanding issues in respect of the children. This is a relatively informal meeting and is usually held on a “without prejudice” basis. The parties are present with their respective lawyers, and lawyer for child. Round table meetings are also without prejudice, meaning what is said won’t be used against you in court, and are a good opportunity for parties to have an open discussion.
- In particularly high conflict COCA proceedings often the parties are unable to effectively communicate which ultimately impacts their capability to co-parent. Communication counselling pursuant to section 46G of COCA, can be a useful tool to remedy this issue.
It is important however to be mindful of the risks where a parent may relocate a child or retain them overseas without the other parent’s consent.
In a New Zealand context, New Zealand is a signatory to the Hague Convention therefore an application would be made to the Central Authority for the return of the child. If a child has been retained overseas and you have a parenting order in place this will be a breach of the conditions of the order, and you can apply to the Family Court to have the order enforced.
If you are concerned that there is a real risk your child will be taken overseas without your consent, you can apply to the Family Court for an order preventing removal of a child from New Zealand. You will need to show that there is an inherent risk that the child will not be returned. If you obtain this order, a border alert will be issued to Interpol so that they will be alerted if attempts are made to take the child out of the country.
If you have any questions regarding any of the issues raised by this article and whether they may affect you, please contact one of our experts in the Family team.
