Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck “had gone through all the details” of their split before she legally filed for divorce, a source exclusively tells Us Weekly.
“They had already agreed to these terms before she filed,” the insider explains to Us about Lopez, 55, and Affleck’s “planned” split after two years of marriage.
The source continues, “J.Lo finally pulled the trigger because that was their agreement that she would file, and she was the one who ultimately made the decision.”
The biggest financial hurdle for the former couple is their shared Beverly Hills home, which they purchased together in May 2023 and put up for sale in early July.
“There’s really nothing else to divide,” adds the insider about the property. “One person doesn’t want more than the other. They both came in with significant assets of their own.”
Lopez waived spousal support and asked the judge to deny Affleck support when she filed for divorce on Tuesday, August 20, in the Los Angeles County Court after two years of marriage. According to documents obtained by Us, Lopez filed pro per, meaning by herself without an attorney, and listed their date of separation as April 26, 2024. In addition, she petitioned to drop Affleck from her last name and cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split.
The “On the Floor” singer did not mention anything about a prenup in her filing, but celebrity divorce attorney Chris Melcher revealed exclusively to Us that it doesn’t mean the former couple didn’t have one in place.
“There’s no requirement to mention if you have a prenup or not,” Melcher, who is not involved in Affleck and Lopez’s case, exclusively told Us on Wednesday, August 21. “I wouldn’t take an inference that she has none just because it’s not mentioned.”
He explained that when it comes to filing for divorce in California, there is “no place” on the documents to “check the box” that asks whether someone has a prenup.
While their assets have been sorted privately, the date Lopez chose to legally break things off with Affleck, 52, is significant to the couple.
They first wed in Las Vegas on July 16, 2022, and then they had a larger, more traditional wedding one month later in Georgia on August 20, 2022.
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News of Lopez filing for divorce came after months of reports that her relationship with Affleck was crumbling.
The duo went weeks without being spotted together before Us confirmed in May that Affleck moved out of their shared home in Beverly Hills shortly before they listed it for sale during the separation. That same month, neither Lopez nor Affleck publicly acknowledged their second wedding anniversary.
Later that month, a source exclusively told Us Affleck and Lopez were “living separate lives” as they navigated their ups and downs, adding, “Jennifer suggested they just take time to figure it out.”
Although a separate source told Us at the time that there was still a “sliver of hope” for the duo, Affleck was notably absent when Lopez celebrated her 55th birthday in the Hamptons on July 24. Instead, Lopez penned a message to her fans thanking them for their support.
“I want you to know on my birthday that YOU are my biggest gift,” she wrote via Instagram. “Besides my family and friends, you have always been there for me in the good times and in the tough times. I can always count on you. And I want you to know that you can always count on me. Thank you for your caring, your understanding, your loyalty and most importantly your love. 🤍 Thank you, Thank you, Thank you…”
Lopez and Affleck have a lot of history between them. They were previously engaged from 2002 to 2004. They reconnected two decades later, thinking they had found their happy ending, but a source exclusively told Us in August it became “apparent” that they were “not a good match.”
“It boiled down to [the fact that] they are two different people,” the source said, adding that the “if there was one final straw,” it was purchasing their over-the top 24-bathroom $68 million mansion. “It wasn’t what he wanted or who he is.”
Prior to their rekindling, Affleck was married to Jennifer Garner from 2005 to 2018, and they share three children: Violet, 18, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 11. Lopez has been married three previous times: to Ojani Noa for 11 months in 1997, Cris Judd from 2001 to 2002 and Marc Anthony, with whom she shares twins Max and Emme, 16, from 2004 to 2014. She was also engaged to Alex Rodriguez between 2019 and 2021.