First, Jada. Now, Meryl. 4 Reasons to Separate and Skip the Divorce

Kate Anthony is a certified divorce coach and co-host of the Divorce Survival Guide Podcast. She’s also the author of a new book, The D Word: Making the Ultimate Decision About Your Marriage, available for pre-order now.

First, let’s make one thing clear: There’s a difference between a legal separation and an off-the-books separation. With a legal separation, you’re still officially married, but typically, a court order mandates the rights and obligations of the couple in clear terms. While there’s no confirmation on the type of separation in the case of these two celeb unions, there is a major pro to choosing to separate vs. legally divorce: You don’t have to divvy up the assets. “If your split isn’t contentious and you’re not aiming to re-marry immediately, a separation—legal or not—means you get to maintain access,” Anthony explains. In other words, you get to skirt the minutia of a full-on division. “Look at Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie who had to bifurcate their divorce because it was going to take a million more years because of the complexity of their property ownership. I think for some people the expense and exhaustion of separating out marital funds, marital properties and more isn’t worth it if you’re able to continue living a collaborative life.”

Again, this may or may not be the case within a celebrity union, but a separation vs. a divorce means that you hold onto more than just financial and property benefits—you maintain medical benefits, too. “Health insurance is a big one. In today’s economy in our country and with our health care system, health plans and the access to each other’s benefit plans can be a big reason to separate instead of divorce,” Anthony says. “If people ask me, ‘Will you ever marry again?’ I say, ‘I don’t know. What’s his health plan?’”

And back to the paperwork: Think about the complexity of seemingly simple tasks like changing your name when you get married. “Certainly in the case of celeb unions, there are a lot of business interests that become entangled,” Anthony describes. “It can be a nightmare to untangle all of that.”

While a legal divorce typically requires an announcement to your friends and family, a separation often comes with different social rules. “As soon as a celebrity gets divorced, everyone knows about it and is all up in their business—perhaps a major benefit of not filing for a legal separation or divorce is that it means people mind their own business,” Anthony says. This applies to non-celebrity divorces, too. “A separation seems to come with a bit more privacy and protection somehow—the lack of finality and formality means less questions are asked.”