Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez Give Hope for an Amicable Divorce

Those following every twist and turn in the Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez divorce saga may be getting the impression that certain new developments are foreshadowing things to get ugly.

The estranged couple were spotted Monday at the West Hollywood office of celebrity attorney Laura Wasser, TMZ reports. Wasser has represented a number of A-list celebrities over the years, including Angelina Jolie during the early years of her bitter, drawn-out divorce from Brad Pitt.

Wasser is also said to have been the inspiration for Laura Dern’s character, a seasoned and aggressive lawyer in the 2019 film “Marriage Story” who pressures 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 Affleck and Lopez’s divorce could mean the stars want the opposite of contentiousness as they work out the details of their split. Unlike Wasser’s alter ego, Laura Dern, TMZ reported in 2018 that the attorney had made a name for herself in U.S. divorce circles by promoting settlements and co-parenting. At the time, TMZ also reported that Wasser would soon end her representation of Jolie because the actress was “out for blood” and wanted to “kill” Pitt’s chances of gaining joint custody of their six children.

Wasser, meanwhile, represented Affleck during his 2018 divorce negotiations from first wife Jennifer Garner, brokering a settlement that allowed them to remain on friendly terms while raising their three children together.

As Wasser revealed in a 2020 interview with the news organization, she advocates for helping separated couples keep their divorces as amicable as possible. She despairs over family law attorneys who tend to follow the path set in dramas like “Marriage Story” or “Kramer vs. Kramer” — making divorces crushingly expensive because they follow a belligerent, win-at-all-costs legal battle that is unhealthy for parents or their children.

“I tell people all the time, the more you fight, the more money I get,” said Wasser, a divorced mother who majored in rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley.

In 2019, Wasser launched a website designed for people who don’t want a contested divorce and want to save money by doing it themselves. Her “It’s Over Easy” platform walks them through the legal steps of filing paperwork in various states and determining child custody, spousal support, and other legal and financial issues.

“I was at a point where I had been doing this for about 20 years when I really saw the need to change the way our culture approaches divorce so that it would result in healthier families, healthier children, healthier parents,” Wasser said of helping spouses “take control” of their divorces.

“You have the opportunity to be the master of your own destiny when you learn the law and how it applies to your situation,” Wasser said. “Lawyers are expensive, and some associates make things worse, not better. Hopefully, there aren’t too many of them, but they do exist.”

Of course, Affleck and Lopez are wealthy enough not to need a DIY divorce. Their wealth also means they need expert help dividing the marital assets they’ve amassed during their brief two-year marriage, including a $68 million Beverly Hills mansion.

As Page Six reports, Lopez and Affleck have been working with Wasser for months — even before the actress officially filed for divorce last month.

In a surprising twist, the former couple did not sign a prenuptial agreement ahead of their summer 2022 wedding, first in a Las Vegas ceremony in July and then in a more lavish, traditional wedding at Affleck’s Georgia estate. The lack of a prenuptial agreement was seen as raising the possibility that the divorce could “get ugly,” after TMZ reported that they had cut off contact.

One of the biggest points of contention may be Affleck’s production company, Artists Equity, which has been churning out new projects since he founded it with his longtime friend and collaborator Matt Damon in 2022.

Lopez recently starred in several Artists Equity projects, including “Unstoppable,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Lopez also stars in the upcoming film “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” which wrapped filming this spring, around the time she and Affleck officially split, according to her divorce papers.

Now that news has emerged that Wasser is participating in mediation in the high-profile dissolution, it’s unlikely that celebrity divorce watchers will experience the messy, angry split some were expecting from Affleck and Lopez. If all goes smoothly, the divorce could be finalized in February.

TMZ also noted that the divorce is still ongoing, despite the couple showing off plenty of physical affection during a recent brunch outing with all five of their kids at the Polo Lounge. A source told TMZ, “There’s a lot of history between them. They still have a lot of love for each other, but the marriage just didn’t work out.”