Peter Facinelli And Jennie Garth

Peter Facinelli And Jennie Garth, Divorce papers for Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli have been prepared, TMZ reports, with both actors citing “irreconcilable differences.” According to E! News, the couple filed for divorce simultaneously, both submitting papers to the L.A. County Superior Court on Wednesday.

As Garth told People magazine earlier this week, Facinelli was the one to ask for a divorce, a topic he first brought up last fall. “I was very resistant,” Garth told the magazine. “I didn’t want it to happen. It took me some time to come to peace with it.”

Still, the couple was officially separated as of Jan. 1, 2012 – the date cited on their divorce papers, although sources previously told Us Weekly that Garth and Facinelli, a couple since 1996, had been living apart for even longer. “It’s been over for months, maybe even a year,” a source told the magazine. “They kept up some sort of charade for the kids.”

Garth and Facinelli have three daughters together – Luca, 14, Lola, 9, and Fiona, 5 – and, according to their divorce papers, both parents are seeking the same arrangement when it comes to the kids: joint physical and legal custody of the three.

Jennie Garth Divorce

Jennie Garth Divorce, The Beverly Hills, 90210 actress, 39, was in the midst of filming her CMT reality show Little Bit Country when she and Peter Facinelli decided to end their marriage after 11 years. They shared the news with the public on Tuesday, and squashed rumors that any “third parties” led to the split on Thursday.

In a new clip from the upcoming series, posted on ETOnline Friday, Garth opens up about the painful split from the Breaking Dawn actor, 38 — and the prospect of raising daughters Luca, 14, Lola, 9, and Fiona, 5 as a single mom.

“Being out here on my own with the girls is not going to be easy, but I know it’s the right thing for us right now,” the twice-divorced star says in a confessional. “I feel it in my heart. I’m excited about what’s next.” In an earlier clip, Garth and two of her girls tend to a mother cow and her calf on their farm — with Garth pointing out the touching maternal bond. “See how close the baby sticks to his mommy,” she says. “That’s all a baby needs, his momma. Just the two of them. That makes a family.”