Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are
officially divorced, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge having signed
off on the paperwork this week, nearly three years after the singers
first split up, E! News confirmed Wednesday.
The
split was finalized for all intents and purposes in March, but due to court
backlog the duo's final judgment package was not entered into the system until
now.
The
global superstars announced in July 2011 that they were calling it quits after
seven years of marriage, saying in a joint statement at the time, "This was a very
difficult decision. We have come to an amicable conclusion on all
matters."
Lopez,
44, and Anthony, 45, tied the knot at home in Beverly Hills in June 2004. The
parents of 6-year-old twins, Max and Emme, seem to
have maintained a cordial relationship, with a source telling E! News that
J.Lo sought advice from her ex before recently breaking up
with dancer-choreographer Casper Smart.
Anthony filed for divorce on April 9, 2012, asking for joint
legal and physical custody of the twins. Lopez requested the same when she
filed a response in December 2013. She also filed paperwork to have her legal
name be changed from Jennifer Muniz (Anthony's real surname) back to Jennifer
Lopez.
It
was the third marriage for Lopez, who was wed to chef Ojani Noa from
1997 to1998 and backup dancer Cris Judd from 2001 until 2003,
and the second trip down the aisle for Anthony, who was married to former Miss
Universe Dayanara Torres from 2000 until 2004.
It
didn't take long for either star to find love again: Lopez began dating
Smart in the spring of 2012, after Anthony had begun romancing model Shannon De Lima. The latter couple
called it quits after a year of dating in January 2013, just before the "I
Need to Know" singer wooed Topshop heiress and Made in Chelsea reality
star Chloe Green. She and Anthony have since split up.
Anthony
was the first to open up about the end of his and Lopez's marriage, in an
August 2011 Nightline interview. "I'll tell
you that it wasn't something sensationalistic happening," he said.
"It was a realization on both our parts. So, you know, it wasn't shocking.
These things happen. It was a decision that we made jointly."
Even
after they decided to pull the plug on their union, Lopez continued to work with her ex on the short-lived Univision
talent competition Q'Viva! The Chosen. And like Anthony, she hasn't been
shy about discussing her divorce with the press.
"Sometimes
it doesn't work—and that's sad. But I remain an eternal optimist about love. I
believe in love," she said in a September 2013 Vanity Fair cover
story.
Anthony
has said that he would like to get married again—when he find the right woman,
that is.
"I
believe in relationships. I believe that God has blessed me in so many
ways," he said. "But when your house is empty and you don't have
someone to invest in, if you don't have a witness, it's almost worthless."
Would
Lopez ever walk down the aisle a fourth time? "We'll see," the American
Idol judge said during a promo panel in January 2014. "I always
believed in that institution. My parents were married for a very long time, for
35 years. I believe in it. It's difficult. I've had my challenges but at the
same time I believe in love. That's the main thing."
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