Celebrity

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner: Inside the Final Weeks of Their Marriage

The couple showed signs of strain in their last months before divorcing

Published on June 30, 2015 06:35PM EDT

Even as their marriage was about to crumble, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner made sure to stand united in public, and privately spent time together with their three children. But the strain was increasingly obvious.

Earlier this month, the couple – who announced Tuesday that they were divorcing after 10 years of marriage – were spotted with their daughters Violet,9, and Seraphina, 6, on one of their frequent trips to the Pacific Palisades Farmer’s Market. “They looked miserable,” an eyewitness says. “They didn’t speak the entire time. They looked like they were only trying to be around each other for the girls.”

The couple, seemingly happy last fall when Affleck, 42, jokingly pulled Garner, 43, into a swimming pool during his ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. But they in fact spent the last several months mostly apart. A source told PEOPLE that Garner called off plans to bring the kids to Detroit last summer while Affleck was filming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Although Garner stood by her husband’s side at a Congressional hearing in late March, buzz about trouble in their marriage picked up soon after, when Affleck was spotted solo and without his wedding ring in Canada. The photo, taken on April 17, was also the same day as Garner’s 43rd birthday. Behind the scenes, the couple were quietly talking to divorce lawyers, sources confirm.

But one week later, they were seen together – both with their hands tucked in their pockets – strolling in their L.A. neighborhood.

In between trips out of town – Garner has also been filming Nine Lives in Montreal, while Affleck has worked on post-production for Batman v Superman – the couple stepped out again to help their daughters celebrate the end of the school year earlier this month.

They marked their 10th wedding anniversary on June 29 – but announced their plan to divorce the next day.

Reporting by AILI NAHAS and LINDA MARX