Joey Lawrence’s wife Samantha Cope made a change to her divorce petition on October 8, per a report from Us Weekly.
After initially filing on August 21, the 37-year-old actress later amended the document to ask the court for joint legal custody of the couple’s 19-month-old daughter Dylan.
Cope still wishes to have sole physical custody of the child and has preemptively agreed to Lawrence, 48, keeping Dylan for up to two nights per week once she turns three in January 2026.
Additionally, the mother-of-one has blocked the court’s ability to award spousal support.
Lawrence married Cope in 2022 after they met on the set of the Lifetime movie My Husband’s Secret Brother.
Joey Lawrence’s wife Samantha Cope made a change to her divorce petition on October 8
After initially filing on August 21, the 37-year-old actress later amended the document to ask the court for joint legal custody of the couple’s 19-month-old daughter Dylan
Prior to Samantha, Joey was married to Chandie Yawn-Nelson from 2005 until they announced their split in July 2020.
The exes share two children — daughters Charleston, 18, and Liberty, 14.
Cope cited ‘irreconcilable differences’ as the cause of her and Lawrence’s split, TMZ reported after reviewing court documents, adding that they separated this past June.
She explained to the court that she does not want Lawrence to have extended visits with Dylan until she is ‘older and can consent to such visits.’
There was also a request that she have approval over any non-relatives that her daughter is around while with Lawrence, according to the outlet.
In August 2021 Cope and Lawrence announced their engagement to Us Weekly, with the actor gushing to the publication at the time, ‘It’s a lot of great stuff, a lot of really great stuff. She’s the best person ever.’
Expounding on their meeting during the coronavirus pandemic, he said, ‘Out of nowhere, you know, it was a crazy year and a half for everybody, obviously the whole world…
‘Then when you least expect [it], amazing things happen and meeting her has just been really the greatest thing ever.’
In August 2021 Cope and Lawrence announced their engagement to Us Weekly, with the actor gushing to the publication at the time, ‘It’s a lot of great stuff, a lot of really great stuff. She’s the best person ever’; pictured February 2021
Lawrence married Cope in 2022 after they met on the set of the Lifetime movie My Husband’s Secret Brother
He added: ‘When you least expect it, you know, you literally meet the perfect person for you, and all those intangibles come into play … and then you meet [the] right person.’
The exes tied the knot in May 2022 at the Temecula Creek Inn in Temecula, California.
At the time, Cope told People that her courtship with Lawrence was speedy: ‘From day one, it was such a safe place to be myself. Two weeks in, I was like, “I will be with you forever.”‘
She added, ‘When you meet the right person, if you’re lucky enough, it cuts to the chase so quick. I have somebody who is like-minded and has the same love language, and we communicate the same way. That’s super important. And I am so thankful.’
