Jennifer Lopez's unusual divorce filing amid her split from Ben Affleck indicates she "just wanted to get this done" and move forward, a legal expert tells PEOPLE.
On Tuesday, Aug. 20, Lopez, 55, filed for divorce from Affleck, 52, in Los Angeles County Superior Court without using a lawyer. She listed April 26, 2024 as the date of separation.
The pair married in Las Vegas on July 16, 2022, but Aug. 20 marked the second anniversary of the traditional wedding ceremony they held in Georgia.
While speaking to PEOPLE, Marilyn Chinitz, who is the matrimonial partner at Blank Rome LLP, says when discussing Lopez's decision to file without counsel, what is known as pro se, "I think that she most likely just wanted to get this done, [that] there was a lot of hesitation and hemming and hawing back and forth, and it's a statement, 'I'm moving forward, I'm filing and I'm doing it on my own.'"
She says it's likely the former couple have been "probably working with a mediator" amid the divorce proceedings.
Chinitz, who isn't connected to the case, adds, "I think it's a real statement from her saying, 'I'm moving forward. Counsel or no counsel on filing,'" adding that it would be "extremely unusual" if the couple don't have a prenuptial agreement, as was reported by TMZ.
"The only time that you see people not having a prenup is when they've put most of their assets in trust for their children, and those trusts have been established and they wouldn't be part of the community [property]," Chinitz tells PEOPLE.
As to whether the divorce is "amicable," Chinitz adds, "I think the next step is to see how he [Affleck] responds, and I think that will give us a clue as to what's going on."
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"Jennifer Lopez’s Unusual Divorce Filing Says ‘I’m Filing and I’m Doing It on My Own,'" by Becca Longmire and Andrea Mandell was published in PEOPLE on August 21, 2024.