On Friday, when celebrities typically release news they hope we ignore, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner announced that their divorce was finalized. They met with a private judge and lawyers at their house to do this all behind closed doors. People reported about it as if it’s a done deal, however TMZ claimed that there are still some legal arrangements that need to be made. As an inadequate recap, the nanny scandal broke in the summer of 2015. Ben and Jen announced their separation before that story broke. After that there were multiple stories that had reconciled, particularly after he first went to rehab in March, 2017, but then they filed for divorce in April of that year. We heard over a month ago that they had “finalized” their divorce right after Ben went to rehab, but I guess they meant that they had just agreed on the terms. This time it’s really almost finalized I guess.
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck have finalized their divorce three years after separating, PEOPLE confirms.
The two met at Garner’s house with lawyers and a private judge on Thursday, a day after news broke that Garner had requested the private judge to handle the final details of the divorce, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.
On Sunday [September 30th], the two stepped out at church together with their children after Affleck completed 30 days in rehab. Three days later, Affleck and Garner stepped out with the kids again for a school event on Wednesday.
“He went to church on Sunday with his family,” a source told PEOPLE. The source added Affleck was smiling during the outing because the 30-day milestone means “he has reason to celebrate.”
Ben and Jen met Garner’s home Thursday for several hours to hammer out the remaining details in their divorce. After reaching a final agreement … both signed on the dotted line to officially end things.In order for the divorce to be finalized and make the pair legally single, they’ll still need approval to use a private judge who will then need to submit the docs to the court for the papers to get stamped. We’re told that will happen by the end of this year.
OK so I get why someone told People it’s finalized even though it’s not finalized finalized, but then why did they say in late August it was finalized? It’s mildly annoying, but it’s also somewhat impressive that they’re not trashing each other in the press and that they’re working to make things as painless for their kids as possible.
TMZ also reported that the two agreed on joint physical and legal custody but that Ben will have supervised visitation initially due to his alcohol problems. That sounds like a good idea.
These are photos of Garner at The Rape Foundation Annual Brunch, where she was honored yesterday. I did not know she was involved with that cause, especially given some of the things she’s said about it. Affleck is shown hiding his muscles under a leather jacket on Friday. Credit: WENN and Backgrid
With these two “finalizing their divorce” doesn’t necessarily mean “they are divorced.”
Glaciers move faster.
I was going to say, I thought this already happened. jeez.
Jennifer Garner is a mother and a father for her children now and she had proved that she is a strong woman who will protect them with any cost and sacrifice. She has been suffered enough during the marriage with Ben’s drinking, drugging and cheating and the divorce and the custody agreement must be a huge relieve for her. She fairly has the kids with monitored visits with Ben, who finally chose a young stripper who enjoys “whiskey all day” over his family and over his ex-girlfriend.
So as the divorce is finalized, there are pictures floating around of Ben in Montana with the Playboy model….where he and Garner vacationed with their kids in the past.
Oof.
Yeah we can see how this whole custody arrangement is going to go can’t we? She raises the kids and Ben pops in occasionally for a church-going photo op. Oof.
To be clear I am not giving any sympathy to Garner. She chose him and chose to stay ten years while being cheated on. But the kids have my every sympathy. This will not be an easy road for them.
I have plenty of sympathy for Garner. Someone she planned to spend her life and raise children with turned out to be an irresponsible, nanny-shagging addict. That isn’t her fault, and she’s dealt with a ton of his crap to make sure he’s present in his children’s lives.
Agreed, well said.
“turned out to be“?
….Really?
Oh yeah none of this was going on before/ when they got together. Oh yeah, Saint Ben the loyal and pure they called him. 😒
She herself in her Vanity Fair interview said no one should feel sorry for her and her eyes were open. She made her choices. 🤷♀️
And how many of us have assumed that someone has changed or is capable of change because they claim to want it? I’d wager a lot of us, and think that this is a good aspect of human nature. Not sure why there’s such an urge to sneer and wag fingers at her. He clearly has no integrity and that’s all on him. It’s his fault he didn’t grow up, it’s his fault that he doesn’t prioritize his family over his basest desires. It’s to her credit that she recognized what he is and left.
Thank you @Enormous Coat. Very well said.
At what point does the romanticized notion of “hoping someone changes” become the romanticizer’s responsibility?
I feel sorry for Jennifer Garner. She loved Ben and he probably made a lot of promises to her. I’m sure he lied to her a LOT, was a gaslighter…with prolific liar/cheaters like him – sometimes you don’t even know what is real anymore, they distort reality, you doubt your instincts, one day you wake up an enabling doormat like her…He has humiliated Jennifer Garner time and time again, good for her for cutting him off.
Sure, she probably shouldnt have continued to bring more and more children into the world with him once she realized who he was but I think he really did her wrong and continues to screw her over.
He’s just another wealthy deadbeat Dad that will create family #2 with a trophy wife and forget his first 3 children.
Yeah marrying the man who went out and had unprotected sex with a stripper before his wedding is always a good idea. Going ahead and also having unprotected sex with him was especially brill. And apparently she needed to spend 10 years with him cheating on her and have 3 children with him before she saw the light. Continuing to sleep with a man who cheats on you and has unprotected sex, she’s lucky she either doesn’t have an STD or got one that is treatable. There is blind love and then there is just dumbness. Or wanting to stay Mrs Affleck.
Just my two cents. The Playboy girlfriend requires nothing from him and it’s all fun and games. She doesn’t require that he act responsible or man up or anything like that. While seemingly great for Ben it actually is tantamount to a death sentence for someone like him. Because when he crashes and burns and then likes to rise again he usually has somebody by his side that lifts him up. Without Garner to do the lifting what will happen to him? I’ve seen this happen to people I know where it is dramatic and appealing to be around someone that needs all this help but as everyone around them matures there really is no one left that truly cares about them. And even though they don’t admit it deep down inside they do know they screwed up and they do know they are alone. The person I know is now in there late 50s with grown children who are not close to them. They are suffering from ill health due to years & years of drinking and drugs. Although they do nothing to change their circumstances in their more honest moments they have many many regrets.
How dramatic. For the record, it isn’t anyone’s responsibility in life (let alone Garner’s) to prop Ben up and keep him sober. He has to do that himself. Repeat: he alone is responsible for his sobriety. His life, his choices. Furthermore, it’s unfair to speculate what his new girlfriend “requires” of him. Garner was once the new girlfriend in Ben’s life, too, the one who didn’t “require” anything from him like his ex-fiancee J. Lo did.
I agree. Everyone around Ben has settled down, matured. Ben frolicking around with a 22 year old and drinking/rehabbing is not cute, funny, bad ass or anything anymore. It’s pathetic. He should man up and be worried about being a good father – not entertaining 22 year old airheads.
The fact the Playboy stripper was documenting their entire trip on instagram a day after his divorce is finalized and right after he gets out of rehab shows how little she respects Ben, his children. She gleefully recorded her private jet flight – how totally classless and immature. She clearly does not comprehend the seriousness of the circumstances of Ben’s life otherwise she would be ashamed of what she is putting out there on social media.
My advice to shauna would be – he took you to montana because he just got divorced and found out can only see his kids with a court appointed monitor. He just lost big time and the entire world thinks he is a scum bag…I mean this guy is probably depressed and hopefully not suicidal, his world has officially come crashing down in the past week…and Shauna is probably the only person dumb enough to pick up his call. He is using you like a drug, girl
Wow, Stacey, you are really… invested in this. All that from a few instagram stories?
Daily Mail wrote an article actually
The funniest part of the Yellowstone Club trip is that they no doubt slept in the master bedroom and had sex in the bed where Jen sleeps when the family goes there. I don’t think he ever took Lindsay to any of the vacation homes.
I would think they had to divide up the properties. So either he owns it, or he bought another place nearby- these people are millionaires- I doubt they rotate bedroom space.
Shauna looks practically wholesome in that fishing pic. She’s certainly very pretty. *shrug* I don’t have a dog in this fight like some people do. If this woman makes him happy, so be it.
I really do think their divorce will be finalized by the end of the year. I think that Jen waiting until he got out of rehab & was actually sober says alot about his sobriety. I cannot even imagine how hard that would be to try to sit down to negotiate a sertlement with someone let alone someone who is not sober!
It is interesting that he took Shauna up to Big Bear in Montana after making their divorce final.. They were known to take their children there often!
Sad that a 46 year old man must be monitored now when with his own children & all Ben can think about is going away with a 22 year old Playboy model who talks about “drinking whiskey all day .”
Finally hope she finds a great person down the line. Man Ben is really trying to drag out this rehab with Jennifer playing along. The blind gossip called him out. Anyhow glad to see Jennifer is moving forward.