Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck’s Celebrity Divorce Explained

[Source: BBC News]

Celebrity lawyer Christopher C. Melcher, who is ranked as a best family law attorney in California, explains Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s celebrity divorce on BBC News.

Steve Lai:

He is more introspective and private. This has been difficult to day-to-day. Now, from on this, let’s speak with Chris Melcher, a celebrity divorce attorney in Los Angeles. He is a partner of Walzer Melcher & Yoda LLP, which is ranked as a best family law firm in California. Hi, Chris. Great to get your insight into this story. We know it was Lopez that filed for the divorce just on Tuesday. What’s likely to happen next?

Christopher Melcher:

Well, with these type of couples, both high-profile that want to keep control of their image, they mostly will settle their case in advance even before filing in court. That may be what’s going on, and maybe a month or two down the road, we might see an approved judgment being presented to the court.

Steve Lai:

Also, with that in mind then, they’re both successful in their own right. Do you expect there to be any prenup in place? Do we know anything about that, or could it be contentious when it comes to assets and things?

JLO & Ben Affleck‘s Prenup

Christopher Melcher:

Well, Steve, I would find it highly improbable that this couple would marry without a premarital agreement. They were married before. They’ve had other relationships. They’re very successful and a lot at stake, so I would imagine that they had worked out those details in advance. I also don’t anticipate that they would fight. They’ve been through this before. They were only married two years. They have tremendous wealth, so hopefully, they’ll just be able to move on in peace.

Contention in Celebrity Divorce

Steve Lai:

Well, you’ve worked on celebrity divorces before. Is it always so amicable though? There must be contention in some cases.

Christopher Melcher:

Well, sure. The fact that, naturally, their heart is breaking, this relationship is ending just like anyone else, there’s going to be raw feelings and emotions. There also is a lot of money that I would imagine that was made even during this short marriage, so there could be disputes about reimbursement of things that were spent during marriage or future streams of income. Those type of things could definitely rear up, but they would have a lot of advisors to help them sort through those things.

Steve Lai:

You’ve had experience with these sorts of things before. Do you have any divorce stories that have stood out to you of a similar profile of star?

Divorce is Public in California

Christopher Melcher:

Well, I have been involved in multi A-list cases, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian‘s break-up, and they did have some litigation, unfortunately, between them, but that’s the exception to the case because going to court is really toxic to their reputation. It’s out of control. It’s a lot of intimate details, and in California, these are public proceedings. Literally, anyone can walk off the street, go into the courtroom and watch the divorce court. They can get the public records and see everything that’s filed. That is very difficult for somebody to withstand, so most couples don’t want any part of that and they’re going to settle quick.