J. Lo and Ben Affleck Divorce ‘Could Drag Out for Months, If Not Years’: The ‘Situation Is a Mess’
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have a ton of loose ends to chase with their divorce, which is dragging on longer than either had wanted and tying them both into major knots while costing a fortune in the process, a source exclusively tells In Touch.
As In Touch was the first to report in May, the couple were “headed” to a disappointing end for all Bennifer fans. They split in April, conspicuously spending the summer apart before filing for divorce on August 20.
Since then, the A-listers have listed their $68 million marital home for sale and enlisted the help of lawyer Laura Wasser to act as an impartial third-party mediator amid their messy divorce proceedings. Ben, 52, had turned to the same lawyer to mediate his divorce from ex wife Jennifer Garner in 2018.
“Part of the reason that Ben agreed to play nice and go to these joint mediations was to try and get things settled as soon as possible,” the source continues. “But they weren’t counting on these setbacks, particularly with the sale of their house.”
Ben, and estranged wife Jennifer, 55, hit a major roadblock trying to sell their house following their split. They had received a $64 million off on the house from a buyer in New Jersey and, even though it was just $4 million shy of their asking price, they accepted in order to wrap the matter up fast.
However, the unnamed buyers “pulled out of escrow” after a death in the family. Usually once this happens, the property falls out of the contractual arrangement and is relisted for sale, which would create a huge headache for the already beleaguered couple.
“They were hoping to unload that quickly but that’s just not happening and it’s a huge pain because it’s going to involve a ton or red tape and essentially until that’s sold, they can’t settle the divorce,” the insider explains.
“There’s really no telling how long that could delay things.”
To make matters worse, with the house back in for-sale limbo, the conditions of their ongoing divorce settlement remain in flux, including the $550 million in assets shared between the two. J. Lo reportedly brought $400 million to the marriage, while the Good Will Hunting star brought $150 million, meaning she may not be happy with the results of the settlement.
“They’re still squabbling over all sorts of points in the divorce, particularity the amount she’s going to have to pay him, since they didn’t have a prenup. There’s also a lot of shared assets that still haven’t been divided.”
“Then you throw in the fact that they’ve got these mixed feelings about each other still, which has delayed countless meetings because, as you can imagine, it's pretty hard to walk into a meeting room and negotiate the terms of a split when they’ve just been all cozy and lovey-dovey the night before.”
“The whole situation is a mess and people are predicting this could drag out for many more months, if not years.”