Jennifer Lopez Will Not ‘Hand Over’ Money to Ben Affleck in Divorce: How Things Could Get Ugly!
Things could get extremely messy when it comes to Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's divorce, given that the two reportedly didn't sign a prenuptial agreement before they spontaneously tied the knot in Las Vegas on July 16, 2022.
After J. Lo, 55, filed for divorce on August 20, after just over two years of marriage, sources exclusively tell In Touch that the "Let's Get Loud" singer is vowing to fight the payout process in the split with everything she's got.
"She already feels so screwed over by Ben," says a source. "Writing him a massive check is just the final insult, and it's not something she's going to just hand over."
Because the pair reportedly had no prenup when they eloped, they could have to divide their "community property" evenly.
Family law attorney Andrew Zashin explained to the U.S. Sun that all of their earnings received "during the marriage could be considered 'marital property,' or 'community property,' and each party would have a 50-50 stake in them."
Because J. Lo and Ben, 52, are both high-profile celebrities and make millions of dollars, a lot of cash could be at stake. However, the Marry Me star's net worth of approximately $400 million is much higher that the Gone Girl actor's net worth of approximately $150 million.
"Jennifer's net worth is approximately four times that of Ben's," said Zashin, who is not working directly with the estranged couple, "so it could have been a costly choice for her to forego a prenup."
For J. Lo, says In Touch's source, "It's become very clear now that there's no getting out of paying Ben half of what she made during their marriage, which is obviously not sitting well with her."
And because the singer has such an impressive net worth, it's likely she'll put up a fight if their divorce takes a nasty turn.
"She has enough money to drag this out, and frankly she'd rather give the money to lawyers than Ben, so she's given her team the go-ahead to stall as much as they can, no matter what it costs her in fees," says the source. "She's pretty disgusted that he'd even consider taking money from her after the way he broke all his promises. It really proves he's not the man she thought he was."
For his part, "Ben is trying to play down the money aspect of it, but there's no doubt it does represent a pretty decent payday," says the source. "And he's justifying taking it by saying he deserves every dime just for putting up with her and all her drama."
While neither Ben nor J. Lo has publicly addressed the dramatic split, the Hustlers actress seemingly referenced the tumultuous few months in a recent Instagram post.
"Oh, it was a summer," Jennifer wrote in the caption of her August 31 post, which featured several sexy photos of herself, along with some cryptic quotes.
J. Lo's decision to end the relationship came after she and Ben spent most of the summer apart. Jennifer was mostly on the east coast, while Ben was in Los Angeles. In her divorce filing, the actress listed "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the split. She listed the date of separation as April 26 and asked that neither she nor Ben receive spousal support.