Scarlett Johansson's Ex Romain Dauriac Was 'Shocked' by Her Divorce Filing — and Plans to Fight Over Custody of Daughter

Scarlett Johansson‘s ex Romain Dauriac was “shocked” when the actress officially filed for divorce on Tuesday, his lawyer tells PEOPLE.

Dauriac’s lawyer, Hal Mayerson, claims the two were in the middle of private negotiations when Johansson filed papers with the New York court on Tuesday, asking for joint legal custody and residential custody of their 2-year-old daughter, Rose Dorothy.

“We were shocked that they filed these proceedings in court,” he says. “We had been negotiating information relevant to their child Rose and also economic issues, so we were stunned when they did this. We’ve told [Johansson and her lawyers] that we would go to any means to try to avoid this.”

In a statement, Johnasson said: “As a devoted mother and private person and with complete awareness that my daughter will one day be old enough to read the news about herself, I would only like to say that I will never, ever be commenting on the dissolution of my marriage. Out of respect for my desires as a parent and out of respect for all working moms, it is with kindness that I ask other parties involved and the media to do the same.”

In the divorce filing, obtained by PEOPLE, Johansson is requesting residential custody of their daughter consistent with the child’s best interest. Mayerson says that Dauriac is prepared to fight back.

“He plans to petition the court to allow him and his daughter to move to France,” Mayerson says. “He believes that her schedule makes it impossible for her to have [primary] physical custody.”

But even if Rose moves to Paris, Dauriac has no intention of cutting Johansson off from her daughter, his lawyer tells PEOPLE.

“Ms. Johansson has two apartments in Paris. She can come any time she wants to see [Rose] and have the child with her,” says Mayerson. “If she’s traveling, we expect there would be a schedule that would be roughly equal between them.”

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Mayerson claims that Rose stays with Dauriac whenever the actress is working — and he believes that’s how it should remain.

“When she travels we expect that Rose will be with the father because that’s the best place for her to be,” he says. “Romain is a good father. She leaves the child with him all the time.”

And while Dauriac is prepared to enter an international custody battle, he is not certainly happy with how the divorce is playing out.

“Romain is quite depressed,” says his lawyer. “He was depressed about the suddenness of Ms. Johansson’s decision to end the marriage.”