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Breaking News: Joey Lawrence and Samantha Cope are separating after two years of marriage, a source close to the couple confirms to…See More
Joey Lawrence and Samantha Cope are separating after two years of marriage, a source close to the couple confirms to PEOPLE.
According to a divorce filing obtained by PEOPLE, Cope cited irreconcilable differences as reason for their split and submitted the paperwork on Aug. 13 — two months after their date of separation, which was listed as June 7, 2024.
She has requested to block the court’s ability to award either side spousal support. Additionally, she is seeking full physical custody of their daughter Dylan, 19 months, while permitting Lawrence visitation at her discretion.
“Once Dylan is 3 or older, Joe will have the option to take her for 2 nights in her home location if he is not working and can facilitate her visiting,” the filing reads.
Per the filing, Cope has requested that Lawrence does “not take [Dylan] for long, extended periods of time until she is old enough to specifically ask for the visitation time and all parties agree and able to facilitate.”
The filing also states that Lawrence “must be available for the full time” that Dylan visits while she is a minor, and “is not to be in the presence of any non-family members while with Joe unless agreed upon by Samantha.”
PEOPLE has reached out to reps for Lawrence and Cope. TMZ was the first to report the news,
Speculation about the former couple’s separation was first sparked when Lawrence was spotted without a wedding ring in PEOPLE’s exclusive photos of his family vacation to Jamaica in August. Cope was also noticeably absent from the pictures.
Lawrence, 48, and his brothers Matthew, 44, and Andrew, 36, described the trip as a “vacation of a lifetime.” The three siblings were joined by their mother, Donna, the Melissa & Joey alum’s daughters, Charleston, 18, and Liberty, 14, as well as Andrew’s girlfriend, Brittany McGowan, on the Caribbean getaway.
“Nothing matters more in this life than the beautiful memories you share with loved ones,” the brothers told PEOPLE at the time. “It was a vacation of a lifetime and we can’t wait to go back!”
On May 1, 2022, Lawrence and Cope said “I do” in front of their friends and family at the Temecula Creek Inn in Temecula, California.
At the time, Lawrence told PEOPLE that their union felt “so right” and added, “Life can be challenging at times, but when God gives you the right person, it’s worth it.”
Shortly after their nuptials, the duo announced that they were expecting in September and welcomed their first baby — Lawrence’s third daughter — in January 2023.
The two met in while filming Lifetime’s My Husband’s Secret Brother in 2021.
“We did this big thriller that my brother Andrew directed for Lifetime, and I met her on the set that movie,” Lawrence told PEOPLE in December 2023. “Which is so crazy to me. I’d never dated somebody that I’d worked with before. That was just very, very much out of the ordinary for me.”
“I was her killer,” he said with a laugh. “Well, I was her lover — and also her killer.”