Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie awarded joint custody of children
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have been awarded joint custody following a protracted court battle.
The former couple have been in dispute for five years over access to their six children and hired a private judge, John Ouderkirk, to oversee the case.
According to Page Six and other outlets, Ouderkirk delivered a lengthy verdict on Wednesday following months of witness testimony, including child services professionals who interviewed the Jolie-Pitt children and others who have been around the family.
“There was a significant change made in the custody agreements based on an extremely detailed decision made by the judge,” a source told the outlet.
Another source, however, said Jolie’s team called the decision “tentative” and suggested she would continue her legal fight.
They added: “Joint custody is not the issue that Angelina objects to. There were other issues of concern, but the court proceedings are closed and sealed.”
In 2020 Jolie made a bid to disqualify Ouderkirk from the case and on Monday criticised his decision not to allow the children to testify.
According to the Associated Press, her new filing said the judge had “refused to hear the minor teenagers’ input as to their experiences, needs, or wishes as to their custody fate”, citing a California code that says a child 14 or over should be allowed to testify if they want to. As well as a 19-year-old and 12-year-old twins, the couple also share children age 17, 16 and 14.
Jolie said the judge “has failed to adequately consider” a section of the California courts code that says it is detrimental to the best interest of the child if custody is awarded to a person with a history of domestic violence.
Her filing did not give details about what it was referring to, but her lawyers submitted a document under seal in March that allegedly offered additional information. In trying to disqualify Ouderkirk, Jolie’s attorneys went to the appellate court, which has yet to rule on her bid.
Jolie and Pitt married in 2014 after meeting some nine years earlier, on the set of Mr and Mrs Smith. They divorced in 2016, when Jolie’s attorney said she was doing so “for the health of the family”.Pitt’s own filing said the judge found Jolie’s testimony “lacked credibility in many important areas, and the existing custody order between the parties must be modified, per Mr Pitt’s request, in the best interests of the children.”
It went on to criticise Jolie for what it said were causing further delays in reaching an arrangement, which it said would “work grave harm upon the children, who will be further denied permanence and stability”.