Sofia Vergara has hired a private investigator to look into her ex-partner Nick Loeb.

Sofia Vegara

Sofia Vegara

The 45-year-old actress has been locked in a bitter lawsuit with the businessman since 2015 when he filed documents to protect, and bring to term, two female embryos, which they had created and planned to use with a surrogate during their relationship.

Nick, 42, has been blocked from bringing the embryos to term twice by the 'Modern Family' star, but he recently filed a third lawsuit in Louisiana because officials there consider embryos as human beings, whereas California - where they were created - calls them products.

However, according to court documents obtained by The Blast, Sofia has now enlisted the help of a detective to prove that Nick - who spends a lot of time in New York - doesn't live in Louisiana and that the address he has listed isn't actually occupied by him.

The documents state: "There is, however, no reason to believe that Loeb lives in Louisiana, and to the contrary, there is significant reason to believe that Loeb still lives in New York."

The private investigator has claimed that he's learnt that Nick is not the owner of the property and the address he provided when registering to vote was in Mount Kisco, New York.

The investigator visited the Louisiana property three times in April and never saw anyone.

He said: "The small house on the Property was dark, no vehicles were on the property, and the property appears to be unoccupied."

Sofia and Nick - who split in 2014 after two years of dating - had signed a contract at the ART Reproductive Center in Beverly Hills when they created the embryos in 2013, which stated neither could use them without the consent of the other.

Sofia - who is now married to Joe Manganiello - was sued by the embryos in 2016, when a right-to-live lawsuit was filed on their behalf in Louisiana.

The case is ongoing.