After two years of marriage, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are set to divorce.
Jennifer submitted a filing yesterday at the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The document, seen by BBC, states that Jennifer or her attorney need to notify Ben of her petition to dissolve their marriage.
The date of separation is listed as April 26 2024 reports TMZ, but the day on which Jennifer, 55, filed for divorce is the second anniversary of the second ceremony – August 20 – they held in Georgia, which followed their initial wedding service in Las Vegas just two months before that.
On the day of filing, Ben, 52, headed to his office and sported a casual figure in Nike trainers, denim jeans and a grey t-shirt. The Gone Girl actor was notably not wearing his wedding band as he carried an iced drink.
This was the second time giving their romance a chance. Popstar Jennifer was first engaged to Hollywood actor Ben in the early 2000s after meeting on the set of the crime comedy film Gigli, and they were quickly dubbed Bennifer. However, the relationship came to an end just before their wedding. They reconciled in 2021, but now, they have split again.
According to TMZ, the Waiting For Tonight hitmaker ‘does not say in her docs whether there’s a prenup’ although sources have claimed to the outlet that there is ‘no prenuptial agreement’ to begin with, so the earnings during their marriage would be ‘community property’.
In the past two years, Ben has starred in both Air and Hypnotic and produced The Instigators. While Jennifer has been equally busy with Shotgun Wedding, The Mother, and Atlas.
Jennifer has given up spousal support and has asked the divorce judge to deny Ben the same, according to the publication.
The documents reportedly state that both parties must share financial information, which includes their current income, expenses, properties and debts. Jennifer will have 60 days to carry out this action, and Ben will have a further 60 days.
They must also share details of changes ‘until there is a final agreement about all financial issues’.
If the original report or updates are not completed, it could result in a court-imposed sanction, the filing warns.
The couple has been rumoured to have called it quits for some time now, with their shared home in Beverly Hills allegedly being put up for sale for $60million (£46million), and Ben not attending Jennifer’s Regency era-themed birthday party this summer.
The singer also cancelled her tour to ‘take time off to be with her children, family and close friends,’ and many wondered if her marital problems were also a contributing factor.
Images of the pair sharing awkward public kisses also circulated as it was claimed by an insider that Ben felt ‘temporarily insane’ during his marriage to Jennifer.
However, Jennifer – who has 16-year-old twins Max and Emme with ex-husband Marc Anthony and is stepmother to Ben and his former wife Jennifer Garner’s kids Violet, 18, Seraphina, 15, and 12-year-old Samuel – has not addressed anything to do with their split, and just mere months ago insisted that there was a ‘real, true love’ between the pair.
‘Love is beautiful. Love is kind. And it turns out love is patient. Twenty years patient,’ Jennifer wrote at the time of their nuptials.
She released a film to accompany her album This is Me… Now on Amazon Prime on February 16 – which featured multiple celebrity cameos including Keke Palmer, Sofia Vergara, and Jane Fonda – and celebrated her love story with Ben.
She told Metro.co.uk: ‘I wrote This Is Me… Then when Ben and I fell in love 20-something years ago. As fate would have it, we came back into each other’s lives. And on the 20th anniversary of This Is Me… Then, I announced that I would do This Is Me… Now. It was inspired by the surreal miracle that had happened.
‘Him coming back into my life and the two of us reuniting in a way that we never expected that was the inspiration for even going in the studio. The album just poured out of me.
‘It was just something organic and beautiful, but it was definitely inspired by getting this incredible second chance at real, true love.’
Jennifer has been married four times – to actor Ojani Noa from 1997 until 1998, next to backup dancer Cris Judd for two years from 2001, and then to singer Marc for a decade before their divorce in 2014. She also became engaged to New York Yankees baseball star Alex Rodriguez in 2019 after two years of dating, but they called it off in 2021.
A new report suggests Jennifer felt the time was right to start moving on with her life. A source told People: ‘She’s very disappointed and sad, but Ben hasn’t given her any signs that he wants to continue their marriage. He hasn’t shown any commitment and interest in making their marriage work. It’s gotten to the point that she just needs to look out for herself.
‘She tried really hard to make things work and is heartbroken.’
The source went on to insist the former couple’s blended family is taking priority, adding: ‘The kids are a top priority, as they always have been.’
Metro.co.uk have contacted Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s representatives for comment.
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