After a couple splits, just keeping things civil can be tough, let alone still maintaining an active, friendly relationship. When kids are involved, lots of exes manage to do just that, of course, but few do it as seemingly effortlessly as Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner.
Affleck and Garner aren't just successful, amicable co-parenting. Almost a decade after ending their 11-year romance (they started dating in 2004, wed in 2005, and announced their split in 2015), the former couple, who share three children, still treat each other like family.
Case-in-point: The exes reportedly celebrated the holidays together along with their daughters Violet, 19, and Seraphina, 15, and son, Samuel, 12.
"Jen and Ben were all together for Christmas. It's all for the kids,” a source close to the pair told People. “Jen grew up surrounded by her family for the holidays, and she wants the same for her kids."
Since their divorce, Garner and Affleck have always remained close and put their kids first, even as they've moved on in other romantic relationships. When Affleck rekindled his romance with Jennifer Lopez in 2021, Garner embraced the relationship and welcomed the Unstoppable actress into their blended family as a fellow co-parent and as a friend.
In 2023, a source close to the situation gushed about the women's bond after Garner invited Lopez's child, Emme, to join her and Seraphina on a trip to Disneyland.
“J.Lo has Jennifer Garner’s seal of approval,” an insider said, according to Us Weekly. “J.Lo thinks Jennifer is a kind and wonderful person and an amazing mother.”
Since Affleck's split from Lopez in August, he and Garner have been spending even more time together as a family unit, including volunteering together as a family on Thanksgiving, serving meals at an event organized by Los Angeles homelessness charity The Midnight Mission.
Even though they're spending more time together amid Affleck's divorce from Lopez, insiders say that nothing has changed, romantically, for the pair, who are in a good place as friends and co-parents, but nothing more.
“[Garner] will continue to make sure that they spend time together as a family and include Ben," a source close to the former couple previously told People. "The kids enjoy when they all spend time together. Jen's grateful that Ben's doing well. They are friends, but that's it."
