Sophie Turner sues ex Joe Jonas, demands that their kids return to England with her

Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas are at odds over their two children.

The Game of Thrones star filed a complaint against her estranged husband in New York court Thursday requesting that their young daughters be allowed to return to England with her, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE. Turner, 27, is alleging that Jonas, 34, has "wrongfully retained" the children (one 3 years old, the other 14 months) and refuses to hand over their passports. Jonas disputes the claim.

According to Turner's complaint, the family previously agreed that England would be the girls' "forever home," and sold their Florida home earlier this year in preparation. They allegedly agreed that the children would accompany Jonas on his ongoing tour with the Jonas Brothers while Turner filmed the miniseries Joan in the U.K., since he would have more daytime hours to spend with them.

But Turner says their marriage of four years deteriorated "very suddenly" after an argument on Aug. 15, which happens to be Jonas' birthday. The musician filed for divorce weeks later, while Turner was in the U.K.; she says in the new complaint that she first heard about the official move "from the media."

Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner in 2019
Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner in 2019

Kevin Mazur/WireImage Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner in 2019

The two parties met to discuss the terms of their separation Sept. 17, per the filing. Turner maintains that she reiterated the previous plan to move to England with the children but Jonas reneged on the agreement. According to Turner's complaint, Jonas "refuses to return the passports to the Mother and refuses to send the children home to England with the Mother."

The complaint adds that Turner will soon be initiating legal proceedings in the U.K. as well.

A representative for Jonas challenged Turner's characterization of recent events in a statement provided to EW, and claimed that the Florida court administering their divorce has entered an order which currently restricts both parents from relocating the children.

"Joe is seeking shared parenting with the kids so that they are raised by both their mother and father, and is of course also okay with the kids being raised both in the U.S. and the UK," the statement said. "The children were born in the U.S. and have spent the vast majority of their lives in the U.S. They are American citizens."

The statement stressed that Jonas and Turner's children "were not abducted" and added, "After being in Joe's care for the past three months at the agreement of both parties, the children are currently with their mother. Sophie is making this claim only to move the divorce proceedings to the UK and to remove the children from the U.S. permanently."

This article has been updated with comment from Jonas' rep.

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