Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner have not resolved their jointly filed divorce one year after filing. Reports suggest they never had a prenuptial agreement, which may be the reason the divorce is taking so long after they filed.
Gone Girl
The actors filed to end their 10-year marriage on April 13, 2016, nearly two years after they originally announced their split, but there are no reports of a prenuptial agreement filed.
The divorce isn’t finalized and the two have been in mediation to settle privately. The actors are seeking joint physical and legal custody of their three children.
Affleck and Garner, costarred in 2003’s “Daredevil” and wed in 2005. They announced their intention to divorce in June 2015, after 10 years of marriage, but did not file documents until now.
“After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce,” the couple said in a joint statement in 2015.
According to TMZ, Affleck and Garner do not have a prenuptial agreement, meaning everything is on the table for negotiation and possibly trial.
Prenuptial Agreements
I’ve written about prenuptial agreements before.
Many people think prenuptial agreements are for actors such as Affleck and Gardner. That is just fiction out of Hollywoodland. Even if you don’t enter a marriage with Affleck’s wealth, it might not be a bad idea to have a prenup.
The lack of a prenuptial agreement for Affleck has probably means that a lot of issues they could have resolved at the beginning of the marriage, may have to be fought over the past year since they’ve filed..
Prenuptial agreements, or “prenups,” are contracts entered into before marriage that outline the division of assets in case of divorce or death.
A prenup can resolve things like alimony, ownership of businesses, title of properties, and even each spouse’s financial responsibilities during the marriage.
There are many other concerns that can be addressed in the prenup:
- Caring for a parent
- Going back to school
- Shopping habits
- Credit card debt;
- Tax liabilities;
- Alimony and child support from previous relationships; and
- Death or disability.
A few of the points of a prenup, is that you get to decide on the amount of alimony, the terms of alimony or whether you will pay any alimony at all, and how to divide movie royalties and other assets.
Chasing Amy
Putting aside the lack of a prenuptial agreement, Affleck and Gardner seem to be doing well by their children. The whole Affleck Gardner family recently made a group trip to Sea Life Park in Oahu. “During the trip, Garner stayed at a resort while Affleck stayed at a nearby house. Additionally, there are reports that Affleck is looking to buy a home near Garner in Los Angeles.
“Ben is looking to buy a family friendly house,” a source previously told PEOPLE in October 2017. “Lindsay shared her opinions, but it was clear that they are not buying a house together.”
Affleck had been living in a rental since he moved out of the family estate he used to share with Garner. Prior to their divorce filing last April, he was living in the family’s guesthouse.
The Los Angeles Times article is here.