Jennifer Lopez made a bold — and likely strategic — move when she filed for divorce from Ben Affleck without using a lawyer.
“She probably is sending a message that there’s not going to be a fight,” celebrity divorce attorney Chris Melcher exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, August 21, of Lopez’s decision.
Melcher, who is a partner with the California legal firm Walzer Melcher & Yoda and is not involved in the case, revealed it was the “first time” he’s seen a “high profile person” like Lopez, 55, file for divorce and not list an attorney of record.
“I believe that this is intentional to send a message that this will not be a fight,” he reiterated, noting that in California divorce proceedings are public record, so if Lopez and Affleck, 55, do end up in a lengthy court battle, it would be thrust into the spotlight.
Melcher suggested that it would be “toxic to their brand if they were to fight in court,” which is why the lawyer believes that Lopez and Affleck would have already “worked out most of these issues before going public with the filing.”
“This could be the first step that we are seeing as the public, [but it] could actually be one of the final stages of their divorce settlement,” he continued, explaining that although Lopez filed without legal assistance, she most likely had help from an attorney along the way.
Lopez and Affleck wed in July 2022 after rekindling their romance one year prior. The pair were previously engaged in the early 2000s before getting married to other people and welcoming children. (Lopez shares twins Max and Emme, 16, with ex-husband Marc Anthony. Affleck, meanwhile, shares Violet, 18, Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner.)
Earlier this year, Affleck and Lopez sparked split speculation after eagle-eyed fans noticed they hadn’t been seen together in 47 days. Us confirmed in May that Affleck had moved out of their joint Beverly Hills mansion. Affleck later purchased a new house in Los Angeles without Lopez and the duo didn’t celebrate their anniversary together last month.
Us confirmed on Tuesday, August 20, that Lopez filed for divorce in Los Angeles, handing the paperwork in herself instead of using counsel as is the usual approach.
While Lopez listed the date of separation as April 26, she waited until the two-year anniversary of her and Affleck’s Georgia wedding to file. (The singer and the actor quietly wed in Las Vegas in July 2022 before throwing a larger wedding for friends and family in August 2022.)
“The timing of the divorce was a big f—k you to Ben,” a source exclusively told Us after Lopez chose to sever ties with Affleck.
Melcher, however, told Us on Wednesday that Lopez filing first doesn’t give her much of an advantage in the divorce. The “slight” leg up she received would be pegged to the “control of the speed of the case.”
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are officially divorcing but their professional lives will remain entwined. Lopez, 55, is starring in the upcoming film Unstoppable, an Amazon MGM Studios project produced by Affleck’s production company, Artists Equity. Filming on Unstoppable wrapped in January but the movie, directed by William Goldenberg who previously worked as an editor […]
The lawyer explained that if there were a trial, Lopez would get to speak first since she filed before Affleck. “The real benefit of filing first is to try to take the initiative and make it look like Jennifer’s the one who is deciding to end the marriage,” Melcher continued. “But practically speaking, there can only be one petitioner and one respondent. So there is no such thing as a co filing of divorce.”
Melcher noted that in the case of Lopez vs. Affleck, “The attorneys and the accountants would be in the background to assist the party in resolving everything, and the final step is filing for a divorce in these situations, because only a judge can terminate the merit.”
He surmised that the actors “probably already agreed on the division of briefing that they have, and we’ll see them show up sometime down the road with an agreed judgment of divorce.”
With reporting by Sarah Jones