News of Jennifer Lopez filing for divorce from fellow movie star hubby Ben Affleck seemed inevitable by the time Lopez officially filed on Tuesday—but one thing that was unexpected was the reveal that the couple may not have had a prenuptial agreement in place.
Lopez and Affleck officially wed in Las Vegas in July of 2022, but had a more formal wedding with family and friends on August 20 of that same year. The date of Lopez’s filing immediately caught the attention of fans who speculated that the star was making a statement by filing on their two-year anniversary this week.
But in the romance of the moment—Affleck had the words “not.going.anywhere.” engraved on Lopez’s engagement ring—if TMZ’s reporting is accurate, the couple didn’t put anything in place to protect their sizable earnings in the event of a split. Lopez’s filing did not include any mention of a prenup, prompting speculation it was never drawn up.
Prenuptial agreements are contracts that protect individual assets in the event of a split. There are a lot of misconceptions about what a prenup can include, Holly J. Moore, family law attorney and founder of Moore Family Law Group tells The Daily Beast. “There is a lot of sensationalism over what might be incorporated in prenuptial agreements, particularly in Hollywood,” Moore says.
And though she adds that it’s “strictly forbidden to include provisions on infidelity and it is prohibited to support or encourage divorce in any way,” you can and in many celebrity cases should use the prenup to ensure that money made during a marriage is protected. As California is a community property state, meaning assets and debts accrued during marriage are considered equally owned, the lack of a prenup calls into question what earnings could be at risk for both Lopez and Affleck.
There is still a possibility that the couple did have a prenup in place, as The Daily Beast hasn’t been able to confirm the info from TMZ’s sources—and since Lopez filed the paperwork pro se, or without an attorney, not mentioning the agreement could have been an error. “Filing is not a hard process,” Jacqueline Newman, managing partner at the matrimonial law firm Berkman Bottger Newman & Schein LLP in Manhattan, tells The Daily Beast.
“Maybe on some level, either [Lopez] did it [pro se] because she got emotional and just wanted to do it, or she did it because maybe she thought in some way that would be less formal.” It’s not common for a celebrity to file this way, Newman adds. “It’s an odd move—you don’t see that sort of thing very often.” But if Lopez filed correctly without mention of a prenup because there isn’t one, things could get complicated—and fast, Newman says:
“What’s going to be of issue is the assets that were accumulated during the marriage,” she explains. “First thing [lawyers] do is they value [the assets] and then they figure out how it’s going to be distributed. If [Lopez and Affleck] invested in projects, if they invested in private equity, whatever it may be—that’s where I see it getting possibly tricky.”
“The lack of a prenuptial agreement can significantly complicate matters in the case of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck,” adds Moore. “Contrary to popular belief, prenuptial agreements are not just for settling current assets—they are also essential in stipulating future debt and asset allocation.”
As rumors of a split swirled, the unhappy couple put their joint-owned home up for sale, and Affleck purchased a multi-million dollar bachelor pad. Lopez is in the market for a new home as well, TMZ reports.
Lopez starred in four released films—Shotgun Wedding, The Mother, This Is Me… Now, and Atlas during the two-year marriage. She almost went on tour this summer, but canceled it amid reports of low ticket sales to take “time off to be with her children, family and close friends,” according to her reps. Had Lopez gone on the tour, its proceeds would have been up for discussion without a prenup, Newman confirms.
For his part, Affleck produced The Instigators and starred in Air and Hypnotic, which were released during their marriage. He also is set to appear in The Accountant 2, which just wrapped filming earlier this month and will release in 2025.
Since payments for films can be on the front end, back end, or sometimes somewhere in between, the devil would be in the details for the couple in terms of hashing things out. Newman says dividing up the monies could come down to “when they sign the contract,” for an opportunity or it could get more hairy.
“Let’s say [a project] was really prepared in those two years [of marriage] and they were paid in those two years and it got released after [the marriage],” she explains, “Arguably, I think that there could be a claim as to the proceeds that are received after the marriage, if it’s attributable to marital energies.”
Either way, it’s unthinkable that Lopez will choose to handle the divorce on her own, Newman says, despite not using an attorney to file. “There’s no doubt she will be hiring an attorney for the actual action,” she explains.
“I do think that [Lopez and Affleck] are going to settle this, whether it be between their lawyers, [in] a mediation, [with] a private judge, or some [other] type of arbitration. I don’t see this being something that would be litigated,” Newman says, as both have shown concern for their children as their lives unfold in the public eye.
Lopez and Affleck don’t have children together, but seemed to successfully blend their family of five children during their two years together. Lopez shares 16-year-old twins Emme and Max with ex-husband Marc Anthony, while Affleck shares three kids Violet (18), Fin (15), and Samuel (12) with ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
As Newman puts it, “I think that they won’t want to do that to their careers, nor would they want to do that to their families.”
