Just hours before Jennifer Lopez filed to end her marriage with Ben Affleck, the actor landed back in Los Angeles after dropping his and Jennifer Garner’s daughter Violet off to college.
Lopez filed for divorce from Affleck in the Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, Aug. 20, multiple sources confirmed to PEOPLE. She listed the separation date as April 26, 2024. She filed the papers herself without an attorney. Tuesday also marked the second anniversary of the pair’s traditional wedding in Georgia (they initially tied the knot in Las Vegas on July 17, 2022).
Shortly before her filing, Affleck was photographed returning to L.A. with Garner after taking Violet, 18, to college at Yale University in New Haven, Conn.
After getting off the plane, Garner and Affleck got in the car and left together.
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On Monday, a source told PEOPLE that Affleck “has been very focused on getting Violet ready for move-in” amid his and Lopez’s marital tension.
“It’s, of course, a huge deal for the whole family, and they’ve all been so excited the last few weeks,” the source added.
Days before, he marked his 52nd birthday with a “small birthday celebration at home “with his kids. Lopez also stopped by for the occasion, a source told PEOPLE at the time.
“It’s exactly what he wanted. He didn’t want to go out to celebrate. The kids had gifts for him, and it was cute,” says the source. “Jennifer [Lopez] stopped by to congratulate him.”
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The insider continued, “The kids were with Ben for most of the day. He didn’t leave the house at all for his birthday.”
Affleck and Garner, whose divorce was finalized in 2018, also share Seraphina, 15, and Samuel, 12.
