Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas will begin four days of intensive mediation on Wednesday in an attempt to reach a divorce agreement, a New York court has heard.
A hearing on Tuesday revealed the former couple will meet this week to resolve issues in their divorce, including custody of their daughters Delphine, one, and Willa, three.
Turner’s attorney said they would do everything they can to resolve the case at trial, which will likely take place at a legal office in Manhattan.
The court was told Jonas wants 50/50 custody and a judge has set a January 2 date for a trial to decide custody of the girls, with lawyers claiming there could be multiple witnesses for both sides.
Neither Jonas nor Turner, one of the stars of Game of Thrones, were present, but Turner joined the hearing via Zoom.
Sophie Turner was spotted in New York City on Tuesday following a hearing regarding her divorce from Joe Jonas
Turner, who has been in New York City during the couple’s custody battle, will meet with her estranged husband this week to resolve issues in their divorce.
The hearing revealed that Joe is seeking 50/50 custody of daughters Willa, three, and Delphine, one
The hearing was the first in court in New York, but the split also concerns divorce cases in Miami and Great Britain.
Jonas filed for divorce in Miami on September 1, with sources close to him claiming Turner had been partying too much, leaving him alone to care for their daughters.
Turner, 27, fired back, accusing Jonas, 34, a member of pop group The Jonas Brothers, of refusing to hand over the girls’ passports so they could return to England with her.
She cited an international child abduction law as the reason for the children’s presence with her.
Both parties have agreed that the girls will remain in New York until the case is resolved.
Turner is staying in an apartment in the city owned by Taylor Swift, who previously dated Jonas.
Before the hearing, Turner appeared briefly on a monitor in a room with a colorful painting in the background.
She seemed to be in good spirits and said it was “all good” once the sound issues were resolved.
Her lawyer Stephen Cullen told the court there were “some issues” between the two parties regarding planning a trial to decide custody of the girls.
The actress did not appear in court, but was briefly present at the hearing via Zoom. She was snapped going outside after the hearing
The Game of Thrones star looked casual in jeans and a gray hoodie
Turner’s attorney said they would do everything they can to resolve the case at trial, which will likely take place at a legal office in Manhattan.
The Edinburgh-born lawyer said in a thick Scottish accent that Jonas couldn’t date in November, and that December was also problematic.
Cullen said he wanted an “amicable resolution” in the case as soon as possible.
He said the trial, which would take place under Hague child abduction legislation, would last a maximum of two and a half days as it would deal with a “very limited” number of issues, such as where the children’s habitual residence was.
Cullen said it was “essential” that a trial took place this year because both parties were “very young litigants” who had “extremely young children.”
Judge Katherine Polk Failla asked Cullen if he wanted a trial since mediation was taking place.
He said he wanted it to run “parallel” to the mediation.
Cullen said: “We will commence mediation tomorrow (Wednesday) and will do everything we can to resolve this matter.”
Cullen said the interim order, signed by the judge holding the children in New York, will be addressed “head-on” during mediation, raising the prospect that Turner could return to England soon.
Cullen also told the court that Jonas was seeking 50/50 custody of the girls, a claim he said would “evaporate” many of Jonas’ defenses in the case.
Jonas’ lawyer Richard Min told the court his client was on a world tour and took a break on December 9 and so could not be available for trial before then.
Swift, who was not seen with Turner that morning, was pictured returning to her mansion last Tuesday after spending two nights in Kansas City with new boyfriend Travis Kelce
Last weekend the two friends were seen leaving Italian restaurant Emilio’s Ballato in Soho after having dinner together
He said he could be neither “optimistic nor pessimistic about mediation.”
Min said, “Four full days of mediation is a lot of time for these parties to sit in a room together and work out their differences.”
Min said that, contrary to Cullen’s claims, there would be a “significant” number of witnesses and a trial would take at least five days, possibly longer.
He said: ‘These are two individuals with a lot of family, friends, social contacts and business relationships that factor into their decision-making and their discussions.’
Min called the split a “rupture of a family unit,” which he said would be “relevant to the issues” arising in the case.
According to Min, there would be “several key witnesses in this case” and it was not just a matter of Turner and Jonas testifying.
Cullen said he wanted to “strongly disagree with the need for a series of statements.”
He told the court that both sides had an “obligation to lower the temperature” and resolve the matter in the quickest and least expensive way possible.
Judge Failla set the trial date for January 2, but said she had “high expectations for the mediation.”
Cullen told the court that the “parties are both seeing their children, which is great,” and described Jonas and Turner’s access as “unfettered.”
The daughters are currently with Turner, the court heard.
During a hearing in court in New York, lawyers for Sophie Turner (seen on Saturday) and Joe Jonas (pictured last Thursday) confirmed that the couple will begin a four-day mediation process on Wednesday to work out a divorce and custody agreement.
Last week the pair agreed to an interim injunction to keep the children in New York after Sophie demanded Joe take them back to Britain.
Last week the pair agreed to an interim injunction to keep the children in New York after Sophie demanded Joe take them back to Britain.
Previous legal documents have detailed how the couple’s three-year marriage quickly fell apart in August after Jonas allegedly saw Turner insult him on their Ring camera.
Two weeks later, he filed for divorce, claiming their relationship was “irretrievably broken.” Sources close to the singer tried to portray Turner as someone who partied too hard and left him to care for their daughters.
But Turner responded with the lawsuit in New York under international child abduction laws.
In the court papers, she claimed that the couple sold their Miami home in March and bought a $9 million house near Oxford, England, which they intended as their “forever home.”
Turner continued in legal filings in Miami, where she included a letter Jonas wrote to the property’s seller, showing he was excited about the prospect of living there.
The former couple paid a 10 percent down payment of $900,000 on the house on July 7, two months before they split.
Jonas is said to have written to the seller: ‘When my wife and I decided that we would spend more time in Britain and look for a permanent home, our daughter had made three unwavering demands: to have chickens, a pony and a Wendy house.
“While many of the homes we viewed met this criterion, the moment we turned the corner and saw the charming blue shutters adorning (redacted) we experienced a sense of magic we had never felt before.”
The sale of the house is expected to close on December 2, but has reportedly not yet gone through, with the divorce potentially throwing a spanner in the works.