Everything to Know About Justin Hartley's Daughter, Isabella Justice Hartley

Isabella Justice Hartley was born July 3, 2004, a few months following Hartley and Korma's 2004 wedding. (The couple divorced in 2012.) Isabella is Hartley's only child, and he couldn't be happier about his favorite role — dad.

"If you had a punch list of things that kids should do from the time they're an adolescent to the time to become an adult, she's hit all of the positive ones," Hartley told People in 2024. "She's just made it easy on me, so that's good."

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Hartley shared that watching Isabella grow up and move out of the house has made him reflect on how far she's come.

"Sometimes I look at her, and then I'll have a memory of the first time ... she was barely able to walk, or the first time she had to put her shoes on ... or the first time she talked. It's just hard to believe that's the same person, and it's hard to believe that that was that long ago 'cause it seems like yesterday."

Like many fathers who become curmudgeons once their daughters begin exploring romance, Hartley struggled when Isabella started dating when she was 15.

During a 2019 appearance on The Tonight Show, Hartley confessed that he found it challenging to balance trust with his lingering anxieties over his daughter's heart getting broken.

"I know it's a natural thing. She's wonderful, she's sweet, she's responsible...and she's earned the trust," Hartley told host Jimmy Fallon before adding, "But I hate it. I hate all of it. Because I loved her first."

Hartley continued by clarifying that he demands the gold standard when it comes to Isabella's love life. Hartley teased, "When I meet me, that's the guy."

In May 2022, Isabella graduated from high school. Isabella's mother announced the achievement on her Instagram, posting an adorable picture of her daughter in a blue graduation robe and a short video of the two together.

"So very proud of my baby girl who’s not a baby anymore," Korman-Harley captioned the heartfelt post. "I love you Isabella!"

In the video clip, Isabella playfully asked her mom, "What are you going to do without me next year?"

Her high school years were not without drama, though. During a September 2021 appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Hartley described giving Isabella driving lessons as the "worst thing in the world."

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"There's gotta be a better way to do this," Hartley teased before telling Seth Meyers a hilarious story of a failed driving lesson. "You put them behind the wheel, take them around the street and you keep expanding and we're kind of at the point where we're on the freeway and stuff."

Hartley continued, "I'm in the car, she's driving, she's doing great, and I'm in the passenger seat. I'm kind of feeling loose, and I open up these gummy bears, and as I'm eating them — I'm shoving them in my mouth like a child — and I look up, and we are cruising through ... a red light!"

Hartley added that after he had Isabella pull over, he warned her, "That could have been my last gummy bear. You have to be more careful." 

Still, Hartley has said he treasured those years.

Father and daughter attended the 2020 Critics Choice Awards, as reported by People, a year before the Late Night interview.

“My daughter is going to be graduating high school in a couple years, so that’ll be interesting,” Hartley said at the event. “Which means she is going to move away, which is heartbreaking but also totally normal and natural, and I’m just going to tell myself that it’s going to be fine. Yeah, we’ll just continue to be healthy and good."

Since Fall 2022, Isabella has been a student at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Hartley struggled with the idea of Isabella going away for school and discussed his reaction to Isabella leaving home during a 2023 appearance on TODAY.

"I guess I'm an empty nester..." Hartley said before exploring how it feels watching his daughter fly the coop. "There's pride, a lot of pride. Because you worry so much about them and you always wonder, 'What if?' 'Is this gonna happen?' And then, you realize it's not worth worrying about, just watch them and trust them... You kind of have to let them be who they are."

He expanded on his feelings during a 2023 appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show. “It’s tough when they leave,” Hartley admitted. “You think you’re ready for it because as they get older, they gain independence, and they’re gone a lot anyway. They have their own friends and their own interests and you can go see them.”

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His biggest (and most relatable) complaint? Like many parents of college students, Hartley would appreciate more phone calls from his absent kid.

“When they’re actually gone, it really is a text or a phone call. And you know, she’s 18, so let’s be honest, it’s a text," he said. "I’m not getting phone calls, which is normal, but I hate it."

Distance aside, Hartley never fails to relish in the delights of being Isabella's father and, now that she's away at college, he enjoys being able to connect to his daughter as an adult, too.

"It's great, I love it. It's the best," Hartley told People in 2024. "Having an adult, it's like having another friend you can talk to. She's really wonderful. I don't think, for me anyway, being a dad really goes away. It's always dad first. I think when she's 30, it'll be dad first."