Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck are now officially divorced, E! News is reporting. The former couple finalized the process last week and a judge signed off on the paperwork on Wednesday, November 8. This divorce has been a long time coming, as they announced their separation all the way back in June 2015. Neither of them took the steps toward an actual divorce until almost two years later. They did eventually file in April 2017, however, and both requested joint legal and physical custody of their three children, 12-year-old Violet, 9-year-old Serafina, and 6-year-old Samuel. Both actors value their children above all, and that’s reportedly why they weren’t rushing with the divorce proceedings. A source once shared that they “are in a good place with the family and are taking careful steps to make sure everything is in order.”
Setting the divorce even farther back were issues with the paperwork. Due to a lack of paperwork in the system, their divorce was at one point under the threat of dismissal. Divorce can be a long, complicated process for any separated couple, and the experience for Garner and Affleck was no different. The media obtained documents in August where more insight on the situation was given. The documents shared that Garner still needed to send Affleck a final declaration of disclosure, and also file a declaration regarding service of declaration of disclosure with the court.
Two weeks after the documents were obtained, a source shared that while the two actors had come to a divorce settlement, they were waiting until Affleck was out of rehab to officially file in court. Affleck announced in a statement on October 4 that he had just finished up a 40-day stay in rehab to treat his alcohol addiction. He is reportedly committed to getting sober and continuing to receive outpatient treatment.
According to TMZ , the ball really got rolling after Affleck left rehab. Along with their custody agreement, the two have committed to meet with a co-parenting therapist monthly for a minimum of six months. While the couple did not have a prenup, they were able to agree on the property split. This divorce may have been long, but it was not too messy as Affleck and Garner were reportedly able to come to an agreement on a lot of things. They did not even officially hire a lawyer to oversee their case in a traditional way and instead had Laura Wasser mediate the entire divorce process for them. While Wasser is a lawyer, it was reported that she didn’t work for them in that capacity.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are now officially single!
