Joe Jonas expressed his desire to make a UK estate his family's "forever home," but that's unlikely to sway the judge in deciding to move his divorce from Sophie Turner overseas ... because that's just not how the law works.
Sophie says Joe expressed his desire to move his entire family on multiple occasions, and even wrote a letter to a homeowner in the UK expressing interest in buying their estate.
Sophie submitted the letter in court docs, obtained by Page Six, in which Joe says, "We could tell that your family have truly loved living here and we can envision our children growing up here and making this our forever home."
While the letter may prove Joe wanted to live in the UK, his family never established residency there. They have lived as a family in the U.S. ... therefore, it's pretty certain a U.S. judge -- not a UK judge -- will handle their divorce.
What's more ... our sources say that while he, Sophie and the homeowners in the UK did reach an agreement to buy the home for $7.5 million, the sale never closed and is still in escrow. So again, no residency in jolly ol' England.
We're told Joe, Sophie, Willa and Delphine have never lived anywhere longer than 6 months other than when they were in Florida ... which is where Joe filed for divorce.
And, there's an even bigger point. Even though Joe and Sophie agreed they would make England their home in the future, once the divorce is filed, all bets are off. The North Star for the judge is determining what is in the best interests of their 2 kids, when the parents live on 2 separate continents.