Ben Affleck & Jennifer Garner had a mediated divorce, didn’t use separate lawyers


Do you know how we heard at least twice, several weeks apart, that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s divorce was “finalized?” I thought finalized meant finished, but in this case it just meant that they agreed on the terms and then did some more work on it, because TMZ is reporting that these two only submitted their divorce documents on Friday. They’re said to be the “final” documents, which I question given all the false starts. TMZ reports that the date of the divorce will be October 9th. Here’s more on this story:

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have now submitted final divorce paperwork to an L.A. County Superior Court judge … and they did it all without lawyering up … TMZ has learned.

The paperwork will make their divorce final. TMZ broke the story, they hired a private judge to do all the paperwork stuff and the final package was submitted Friday to the court. When the clerk puts the official stamp on the docs, the divorce will be backdated to October 9 … that’s when Ben signed off (Jen had signed off days earlier).

The official documents show what TMZ first reported — that they will share joint physical and legal custody of their 3 kids. They also agreed to meet with a coparenting therapist on a monthly basis for a minimum of 6 months.

The docs also say “Neither party shall make derogatory or insulting remarks about the other … in the presence of or within hearing distance of any of the minor children,” and also says, “Each party is restrained from arguing, yelling, or using profanity directed at the other party in the presence or within hearing distance of any of the minor children.”

As we reported, the couple did NOT have a prenup. They have divided their assets but the info isn’t in the divorce docs.

And, this is super interesting … rather than each hiring a lawyer, they used disso queen Laura Wasser to mediate the divorce. In other words, Wasser was not an advocate for either Ben or Jen — her job was to reach an agreement with as little conflict as possible.

[From TMZ]

Supposedly the documents should be signed off on by the end of the year. Also while they may not have used lawyers to file, I would bet that they each consulted multiple lawyers before coming to a decision to use mediation. For all you can say about Ben and Jen, they did do this amicably and they probably saved massive amounts of money by doing it that way. I credit Jen with that, but maybe that’s just due to her excellent PR. Speaking of that, Ben was seen out with Jen at church this weekend. They looked pretty chummy too. I wonder if we’ll ever see Jen out with the new guy.

BenandJen_ZB6953_324580_0036

BenandJen_ZB6953_324580_0006

photos credit: Avalon.red and Backgrid

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

27 Responses to “Ben Affleck & Jennifer Garner had a mediated divorce, didn’t use separate lawyers”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. LT says:

    Good for them. We did a “collaborative divorce,” which means in addition to our attorneys, we also had a social worker and an accountant in order to facilitate a better custody arrangement for the kids. It was expensive to have so many people involved, but we saved money in the long run by getting through the divorce so fast because we were working for the same outcome. Most importantly, we didn’t put our kids through hell.

  2. darla says:

    They saved massive amounts of dignity, which is far more important than their money. Especially for their children.

  3. alice says:

    This divorce has been ~final a half dozen times now, except that it ISN’T. We won’t see her with her “boyfriend” because the relationship isn’t real. There is a blind item from a reputable site about an actress who is promoting a fake boyfriend because she doesn’t want to look pathetic. The actress’s ex has long moved on. It’s Jen.

    • Tiffany :) says:

      I wouldn’t call Blind Gossip a “reputable site”.

      • alice says:

        They are. Their blinds have been proven correct many times.

      • Tiffany :) says:

        They’ve been totally wrong so many times. There have been so many items where they predict events that never end up happening.

        Also, search for “Blind Gossip caught with Fake Receipts”. They posted an item that said they had proof that Channing Tatum was dm’ing a girl and provided copies of the texts and a photo that he supposedly sent. In reality, it was a still shot of a video he did for fans.

        They aren’t credible, but if it makes you happy to believe unreliable source, more power to you I guess.

  4. Sayrah says:

    This is great. They really do love each other and their kids but can’t be a couple any longer. It’s refreshing to see.

  5. Shay says:

    Here we go again. These 2 are as fake as their public image. Was Jen driving ben to rehab and rehabbing Ben’s public image everytime he has a boozy stripper melt down also part of the divorce settlement. Sorry but every time I see Ben at church all I see is his PR team and garner trying to save Ben’s fake family man daddy of the year image.

    • meme says:

      HAHA thats funny. hollywood is so weird i wouldn’t be shocked if it wasn’t written into the divorce “Jennifer Garner must fulfill codependent obligations and coordinate transportation for Ben to rehab when Playboy Bunny Girlfriend is sleeping off her hangover.”

      I honestly cannot believe Jennifer Garner is the church going angel she claims to be if she married a party animal and drug addict like Ben in the first place and she lived with him for the past 15 years? You know he was bringing drugs and booze into their home.

  6. Elena says:

    Lots of people with kids and WAY less resources get divorced & handle their biz with dignity as well.

  7. Original T.C. says:

    That yelling and disparaging each parent in front of the kids is curious. So I take it they were doing just that during their marriage? And what about new step Mom or stepfather, or bitchy friends are they part of the divorce agreement too?!?

    • ophelia says:

      MTE. I can only imagine how vicious and tense it must have been when they still lived under one roof. It was speculated that Jen gave Ben a black eye once, too. Poor kids, having to witness physical/verbal abuse. Better off divorced.

      • BB says:

        I see Jennifer Garner more as the avoidant type. Pretend everything is perfect and look the other way so you can keep that ideal image of your marriage and life in your head. She takes her super mom persona pretty seriously, I’d guess she keeps up the act in front of her kids.

    • BB says:

      I assume that’s just boilerplate for a divorce where custody is shared.

  8. Other Renee says:

    My ex and I saved a ton of money by using one attorney to mediate. We met with her once. Told her how we had decided to split assets and that we’d amicably handle custody of our daughter. That’s exactly what happened a decade ago. Once the paperwork is filed with the court in California, it takes time for the judge to sign off.

    Ben really is such an idiot. He had it all. Loving wife and family. Career success. And he threw it all away with both hands.

  9. lucy2 says:

    I think Ben is a mess, but I will give them both credit for doing things this way. It’s amicable, and saved them a lot of money, frustration, and anger. Hopefully he gets himself together, and they’re able to co-parent well.

  10. kristen says:

    Is Shauna still around?

    • julie says:

      Ben’s being super secretive about his love life these days but he always has a woman (or two) in his life. Shauna’s prob still around but the lid is on tight now, so who really knows?

      • hil says:

        It wouldn’t shock me if Lindsay was secretly back in the picture. Ben’s looking mighty smug, satisfied and excited about life these days. He’s got someone, we just don’t know who.

      • meme says:

        Yeah she is active again on social media and coming across as happy and confident. I wonder if Ben took her back.

      • chris says:

        He seemed to really enjoy Shauna’s company, lol. She could still be around if she’d kept her mouth shut. However when she posted pics from their vacay at the family home in Montana I knew she was done. She was too noisy about him on social media. Ben and his brother like to meet up with women they’re secretly dating in hotel rooms for maximum privacy. Ben still owns a bungalow at the Beverly Hills hotel for that very purpose, he has had it for years and years. Whoever he dates next will keep it on the DL until he says so. I doubt Lindsay would take him back. She left him, it sent him into a tailspin and he ended up back in yet another rehab. I know people here don’t think much of her but she was slumming it with him. The only women still impressed with Bloated, Drunk Ben are little girls like Shauna and middle aged women in flyover states.

      • Loadedfries says:

        @chris I thought he dumped Lindsay?

  11. hil says:

    We’ll never see pics of this imaginary boyfriend. He was a PR device. He will only be mentioned in passing until people start asking questions, then they’ll “break up.”

  12. Carolnr says:

    I am just going by papped pics, BUT their children seem to be well adjusted & happy.(that is what matters)
    Whatever, they are doing, seems to be working for them & their children. I cannot imagine it can be easy at times but they will always be a FAMILY & family is everything!

  13. Loadedfries says:

    Good for them. They’ve done this very well. I’m sure she’s gone through a lot emotionally (I think she effectively said he was the love of her life) but her constant grinning is grating. This is the smart way to go for showbiz divorces!

    PS. I knew Garner joined IG for a reason. She really wants that company to do an Honest/GOOP/Martha Stewart. Julia Roberts also joined recently. I’m guessing she’ll be doing the same.

  14. Loca says:

    Fake boyfriend story until someone shows real pictures of them hanging out and looking like a couple.