Lopez filed for divorce after two years of marriage

Divorce is thorny — especially when there are millions of dollars in assets at stake. That is where Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez find themselves now, with Lopez filing for divorce from Affleck on Aug. 20 after the celebrity power couple had been living separate lives for months.

Affleck and Lopez will finalize their divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court, where Lopez filed without an attorney’s assistance earlier this month. However, the dissolution of Bennifer‘s marriage could be messier than initially anticipated.

A conflict of interest in the courtroom?

TMZ has revealed a unique wrinkle to the upcoming divorce proceedings between Affleck and Lopez that could change everything about the final agreement whenever it is brokered.

The presiding judge in Affleck and Lopez’s divorce is Bradley S. Phillips. That name alone might not mean anything, but Phillips has a familial connection to the unhappy couple: son-in-law Strand Conover, who is a partner at the talent agency WME. That agency represents former New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez (Lopez’s ex-fiancee) and…Affleck himself.

This connection has led some to question whether Phillips presiding represents a conflict of interest in the divorce proceedings — and whether Lopez will get “shafted” when all is said and done. However, Phillips has no plans to recuse himself from the proceedings, with TMZ reporting that the experienced judge believes he can remain fair and impartial despite Conover‘s history with Affleck and Rodriguez — through whom he also got to know JLo.

In a sense, this is one of the realities of going through a divorce in Hollywood — everyone has a connection to everyone.