Those following every twist and turn in the Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez divorce saga might be tempted to think that a certain new development means that things are going to get ugly.
The estranged spouses were spotted Monday at the West Hollywood office of celebrity divorce attorney Laura Wasser, TMZ has reported. Wasser has represented a who’s who of divorcing A-listers over the years, including Angelina Jolie in the early years of her bitter, protracted divorce from Brad Pitt.
Wasser also is said to be the inspiration for Laura Dern’s savvy, aggressive attorney in the 2019 film “A Marriage Story,” who nudges her client, played by Scarlett Johansson, into an increasingly contentious and costly divorce from her husband, played by Adam Driver.
But Wasser’s role in the Affleck and Lopez divorce could mean that these A-listers want the opposite of contentious, as they work out details of their split. Unlike Wasser’s Laura Dern alter ego, TMZ reported in 2018 that the attorney has made a name for herself in U.S. divorce circles by promoting settlements and co-parenting. At the time, TMZ also reported that Wasser was soon to end her representation of Jolie because the actor was “out for blood” and wanted to “kill” Pitt’s chances of gaining shared custody with their six children.
Meanwhile, Wasser represented Affleck when he negotiated his 2018 divorce from his first wife, Jennifer Garner, mediating a settlement that has allowed them to remain on friendly terms as they co-parent their three children together.
As Wasser revealed in a 2020 interview with this news organization, she advocates for helping estranged couples keep their divorces as conflict-free as possible. She despairs over family law attorneys who tend to follow the route outlined in dramas like “A Marriage Story” or “Kramer vs. Kramer” — making divorces crushingly expensive by following a combative, win-at-all-costs legal battle that’s not healthy for either parents or their children.
“I tell people all the time, the more you guys argue, the more I get paid,” said Wasser, a divorced mother who graduated from UC Berkeley as a rhetoric major.
In 2019, Wasser launched a website that’s designed for people who don’t want a contested divorce and who want to save money with a DIY divorce. Her “It’s Over Easy” platform takes them through the legal steps for filing paperwork in different states and for working out child custody, spousal support and other legal and financial issues.
“I had been at the point of doing this for about 20 years when I really saw the need for a change in the way our culture approaches divorce so that it results in healthier families, healthier kids, healthier parents,” Wasser said about helping spouses “take control” of their divorces.
“You have the ability to be the master of your own destiny after you’ve learned about the law and how it applies to your situation,” Wasser said. “Attorneys are expensive, and some colleagues make things worse rather than better. Hopefully, there aren’t too many of those, but they exist.”
Of course, Affleck and Lopez are individually wealthy enough that they don’t need a DIY divorce. Their wealth also means they need expert help in dividing the community property they amassed during their brief, two-year marriage, including a $68 million Beverly Hills mansion.
Lopez and Affleck have reportedly been working with Wasser for months — even before the actress officially filed for divorce last month, Page Six reported.
Very surprisingly, the former couple didn’t sign a prenuptial agreement before they married in the summer of 2022, first in a ceremony in Las Vegas in July and then in a more lavish, traditional wedding at Affleck’s Georgia estate. The lack of a prenuptial agreement was seen as creating the potential that the divorce could “get ugly,” after TMZ reported that they had cut off contact with each other.
One of the biggest points of contention could be Affleck’s production company, Artists Equity, which has been busy busting out projects since he founded it alongside his longtime friend and colleague Matt Damon in 2022.
Lopez has recently starred in several Artists Equity projects, including the film “Unstoppable,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Lopez also stars in the forthcoming “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” which wrapped filming in the spring, around the time that she and Affleck officially separated, according to her divorce filings.
Now, with news that Wasser is involved in mediating the high-profile dissolution, it’s unlikely that celebrity divorce watchers will get the messy, angry breakup that some had been expecting from Affleck and Lopez. If things run smoothy, the divorce could become final in February.
TMZ also emphasized that the divorce also is still happening, despite the estranged spouses showing lots of physical affection for each other during a recent brunch outing with all five of their children to the Polo Lounge. As a source told TMZ, “There’s a lot of history between the two. They still have a lot of love for each other but the marriage just didn’t work.”
