Johnny Depp and his longtime partner Vanessa Paradis didn't take their separation lightly and tried valiantly to keep their family together, a source tells PEOPLE.

"They've tried for months to save the relationship," the source close to the couple says, "but have known for weeks that it couldn't be saved."

Last week, Paradis arrived in France where she is promoting her film Je Me Suis Fait Tout Petit at the Cabourg Festival of Romantic Cinema.

The source says the timing of the couple's separation announcement purposefully coincided with Paradis's trip to France. "It was all decided before she got on that plane."

As PEOPLE reported in January, Depp, 49, and Paradis, 39, have been living separate lives for many months.

The couple are parents to two kids, Lily-Rose, 13, and Jack, 9. The French-born actress and the American star who famously never married, have not been seen at a public event together since 2010.

Vanessa did not attend any of the promotional events for recent film Dark Shadows or The Rum Diaries, in which he starred alongside blonde bisexual actress Amber Heard, 26, whom Depp has been romantically linked to.

沪江娱乐快讯:据报道,约翰尼·德普与相恋14年的女友已于数月前低调分手。杰克船长的经纪人今天也证实了这一消息,称德普和相恋14年的法国女友凡妮莎·帕拉迪丝已经“和平分手”。据悉,德普和帕拉迪丝育有一儿一女,但两人一直没有结婚。有消息称德普与一同出演《莱姆酒日记》的性感女星艾梅柏·希尔德频传绯闻,这也导致他和帕拉迪丝也因此跌入谷底。两人曾试图挽救关系,可是最终还是以分手告终。