Divorce Attorneys Answer Our Bennifer Breakup Questions
You may have heard: Jennifer Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck on Tuesday. The split was reportedly months in the making, so it’s not shocking that she made her way to L.A. County Superior Court to make it official. The particular elements of the filing, however, are surprising (like the fact that she filed on the two-year anniversary of their Georgia wedding celebration) and confusing (like the fact that she filed without a lawyer). And then there’s TMZ’s claim that Ben and Jen, who have been divorced a combined four times previously, didn’t have a prenup.
We couldn’t get Laura Dern’s character from Marriage Story on the line to discuss these puzzling details, but luckily some real-life high-profile divorce attorneys were available to answer our questions. In brief: This short marriage could yield a long, dramatic divorce.
Wait, so J.Lo filed without an attorney?
Yes, and this is pretty uncommon for an A-lister like J.Lo to do. Sometimes, clients will file for divorce “pro per” — representing themselves — if they are trying to save money on legal fees, said Kara Chrobak, a shareholder in Buchalter’s Denver office and a member of the firm’s family-law practice (and who is not associated with Bennifer’s case). But that’s probably not Lopez’s concern.
Instead, J.Lo may have filed herself because it was important to her to get to court on a specific date — their anniversary — that would send the message that she is an independent woman who is not going to wait around for Affleck to get his act together. The tabloids seem to confirm as much: A source told People “she was done waiting and the date she did it speaks a ton,” and another source told Us Weekly “the timing of the divorce was a big f- - k you to Ben.”
Chrobak said it’s highly likely that Lopez is consulting with one or more attorneys behind the scenes. Nicole Sodoma, a divorce attorney and author based in Charlotte (who is also not associated with the case), said that you don’t actually need an attorney to do the filing — “the filing of a divorce complaint is actually one of the easiest things to do in the process of divorce. There’s a self-serve center in their county that is fairly straightforward.”
Now I’m picturing Lopez walking up to a little kiosk to file for divorce from Affleck and getting sad.
And they didn’t have a prenup?!
In J.Lo’s filing, she did not indicate whether or not she and Affleck signed a prenup before getting legally married at a chapel in Vegas on July 17, 2022 (their Georgia wedding celebration was, of course, on August 20). TMZ claims they don’t have one, which means that anything they earned during their two-year marriage is community property. (For example: Affleck starred in and produced Air; J.Lo starred in Shotgun Wedding and of course released the concept album, musical film, and documentary about the making of said musical film all about her love for Affleck in February.)
Chrobak said that if it’s true Lopez and Affleck don’t have a prenup, that is pretty uncommon, especially for people who have been divorced before. But “it’s possible that they have some estate-planning documents that they feel will protect a lot of their assets without the need for a prenuptial agreement,” she said.
So how long will it take them to work out a settlement?
In her filing, Lopez listed the couple’s date of separation as April 26, 2024. TMZ reports that Affleck and Lopez have been working on a financial settlement since they separated, but the talks are becoming “increasingly acrimonious.”
Chrobak said it’s possible Lopez filed this week to “start the clock running” on the divorce — the court will set deadlines that could push settlement talks along more quickly. But if it’s true that they do not have a prenup, there will be a lot to sort out.
“You would think that they would both walk away with what they have then divide up that house, which I think is what everybody was expecting based on an assumption that they have a prenup,” Chrobak said. “But if in fact they do not have one, that really opens the door to potentially a lot more back and forth and a lot more at stake, which could mean that they could end up fighting for a while.”
Affleck and Lopez listed their marital dream home in Beverly Hills for $68 million last month. Though it could take a long time to sell (do you know someone who needs a $68 million house?), Sodoma speculated that the couple likely decided how the proceeds would be divided before listing it.
As for everything else? Settlements take “as long as two people want them to take,” Sodoma said. Chrobak concurred: “Divorces involve so much more than just numbers. There’s so much emotion and personalities and egos and a desire to feel vindicated, a desire to feel heard — you have to factor all that in.”
Have they learned anything from their past four combined divorces?
A bunch of lawyers who don’t know Bennifer personally probably can’t answer this, but it seems like no.
One more: Is love real?
Check back in on Bennifer in another 20 years.
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