Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were supposed to be locked in last minute negotiations with their lawyers this week, and next week. Originally, they were due in court on December 4th to begin their contentious custody hearing, which would decide on custody of the five youngest Jolie-Pitt children. I’m still not 100% sure why they chose to tackle custody first, before they had even worked out a preliminary financial agreement, but I suspect that the financial stuff is tied to custody, as in… if Angelina gets primary custody, Brad will owe her more in support. Still, it feels like after two-plus years, they should be a lot further along. Unfortunately, the process seems to be slowing down – Angelina just asked for an extension while her lawyers negotiate with Brad’s lawyers.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are locked in discussions to try and reach a settlement on the custody of their children and just asked the court to give them more time with the private judge so they can reach the finish line. According to documents, obtained by The Blast, Jolie filed a stipulation to extend the appointment of the Honorable John Ouderkirk as the judge dealing with the custody issue in their divorce. As we reported, Ouderkirk is the same guy who officiated the Pitt-Jolie wedding in 2014.
Jolie, who notes that Ouderkirk is privately compensated by the two stars, wants to make sure he oversee all the pre-trial motions and requests, and then handles the private custody trial, if necessary. The couple is asking that the judge be extended until December 31st, 2019. Ouderkirk was previously slated to be on board until June, so it seems the stars are making sure they have enough time to reach a settlement without going to a trial.
My reading of this is that the custody hearing – if it happens – will be pushed back until 2019, but both sides are truly trying to settle this part out of court. I still don’t know how I feel about that, incidentally. Like, I do think that an actual custody hearing will be difficult for the kids, but I also think that Brad will probably get more generous terms from an out-of-court settlement deal. Maybe I’m wrong? Like, a year ago, I would have said that Angelina would never even sit down and talk about a deal. But she seems to have softened a bit. Or maybe there’s some other angle I’ve haven’t considered.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
I was wondering if it had to do with Maddox becoming a legal adult? From all reports, he was the one who had an altercation with Brad and no interest in spending time…Just checked though and he won’t be 18 until August 2019.
Maddox is old enough in most jurisdictions to say that he doesn’t want to see BP, and not be forced to go. At 17, he’s unlikely to be forced by any judge.
The older a child gets, especially after the age of 13-14 or so, the more likely the judge and social workers will listen.
At least in Texas, my understanding is that children can decide which parent to live with when they turn 12. I agree, she might be playing a numbers game to protect/keep them from Brad (depending on your perspective) until they have legal agency.
This is @dylan: I couldn’t figure out how to reply directly to your comment regarding custody decisions in Texas so I hope y’all dont mind: in Texas, the custody of a child, if a possession order is place, the child’s cannot make a decision on where they want to live at a certain age prior to their 18th birthday. Unfortunately my SO has children in a situation that has introduced us to this very common misconception about Texas law. They may speak with the judge regarding their desires. The judge has the option of
taking their feelings into consideration but the children are bound by custody order papers until their 18th birthday. As are the parents until an amendment is made by the court. It wasn’t until my personal involvement in a case that I learned this. I was always told 12 or 13 were the ‘magic’ ages for them to make those types of decisions.
What is a private judge? It seems in US you can get a private anything.
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/dispute_resolution/resources/DisputeResolutionProcesses/private_judging/
Incorrect – the actual filing shows that the respondent aka Brad filed for yet another extension.
Blast lied so they could protect Brad again and take a swipe at Angelina.
Brad has requested for extension 3 times now, wonder why?
He still hasn’t submitted his financial…
Oops didn’t realize you posted it as well..Seens like Angie is the one ready to move on & Brad is the one stalling..
In viewing the actual court filings,it seems like Brad(The respondent)is the one(YET AGAIN)Who asked for this extension,so I don’t get why it’s reported as if Angie asked for it.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DtCmIpQV4AA-l_q.jpg
Brad did the filing not her. Why do they have to lie when the evidence is out there for everyone to see?
There’s one tiny little problem with this story and headline- it wasn’t Angelina who filed the extension with the court. The extension was filed by Pitts lawyers on the 26th, so I have no idea why the blast is claiming it was filed by Angelina when they have to know it wasn’t? The documents aren’t publicly available yet, so i haven’t read them myself. All three extensions over the last year have been filed by Pitts lawyers. I’m struggling (not really) to understand why The Blast keeps lying so blatantly about this case and Angelina.
11/26/2018 Stipulation and Order (Re: Stipulation To Extend Appointment Of Privately Compensated Temporary Judge )
Filed by Respondent
Brad & team trying so hard to smear Angelina even lying outright.
They are following Trump’s playbook by lying knowing due to the media and Brad being a white man, some people will believe the lies.
I think Brad is getting desperate since Samantha came onboard. Laura was on their side so they managed to smear Angelina and drag it out for months.
Since July, Brad team asking for extension after extension. They are trying everything they can to get the public’s support before damaging information about Brad comes out.
The headline on The Blast is as follows: “Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Need More Time for Settlement Discussions, Extend Private Custody Judge.” They do not say it was Angelina alone. It was in fact the two of them together who signed this STIPULATION agreeing to extend the time.
Read the actual article…
There is a difference between an OSC, RFO, a Motion–and a Stipulation. A stipulation is filed by BOTH PARTIES period. It is irrelevant as to who sends it to the court. It is signed and agreed upon by both parties. I say this in the interest of fact.
Great lipstick.
It really is! That was the first thing I noticed. She looks stunning!
Brad and his lousy team requested extension. What ever happen to the Truth.
Listen, It’s quite clear that the reason for yet another extention is the fact that the evaluator is not recommending joint custody at this stage. The last Blast leak only mentioned “significant time” for BP, i.e. AJ would maintain physical custody. Given how bad it would look, especially considering how easy/regular it is to be awarded joint custody in the state of California, Brad will extend this part of the divorce until it is awarded. I have to say the fact it is taking this long does not reflect well, at all, on Brad Pitt. And the fact he is stalling with regards to concluding the other parts of the divorce (he is yet to complete preliminary disclosure, you cannot bifurcate until this is done), also does not reflect well on him.
I cannot stand women that want full custody just out of spite! Kids deserve both their parents.
Hmm out of spite. I cannot stand people who excuse abuse. He’s had supervised visits for 2 years with the children needing to see psychologist after each visit. Doesn’t sound like out of spite to me
Ikr? They need psychological treatment every. single. time. they see the other parent. If it were O.P’s kids requiring mental health treatment when with the offending parent, would they be so quick to call it spite?
The judge ordered Jolie to arrange a phone call with the kids and their doctors to explain to the children that “the court has determined that each of them are safe with their father.”
of course because he could not connect with his children Angelina was forced to help him and even after that they had to visit with doctors during and after their little time he had 2 kids in the summer. It was just Vivienne and zahara who were photographed getting off a plane in La for their summer week. After that he told tmz his boys refused to see him but the girls were a little more willing. Who knows what’s happening now but we know for sure he had 2 years of supervised visits and the poor children were trapped in therapy because he kept trying to get out of what he signed with cps. His fans always forget that whole order and blame Angelina and her sons. The deplorable leak actually had more negative for Brad but as always media and his fans want to give him a pass. He’s not even getting trashed for how he’s treated Nola Katrina victims… If it was AJ we would never hear the end of it just like if it was AJ who abused her kids and lost custody it would be never ending and no excuses made 😂 He would be praised as the best thing ever for wanting to protect their kids. Oh well.
The court determined that they are safe, not that they feel safe with their father. No judge can order that anymore than they can order a child be happy or sad. Feeling and being safe are two completely different things entirely, and this is clearly the main issue in this case and the entire reason for their summer schedule.
Hmmm. The judge also intimated, pointedly, that there could be parental alienation. Otherwise she would not have been repeatedly rebuked. The judge has all of the facts. We do not. This is a retired, experienced family law judge who has seen it all…with far more experience in these issues than we have. As such, it is actually RARE that a judge pointedly accuses a party of blocking access to children. He went as far as to say that she would lose time with the kids if she did not change the behavior. He has all of the facts, evaluators and doctors reports.
The Judge did not intimate anything, he made it clear that there is alienation, the issue is the cause of said alienation. Afterall alienation is not just a parent keeping a child/children from the other parent, but also a parent deliberately distancing themselves from a child/children. The summer schedule would have been to establish the root of this issue for the court, whilst also attempting to reconcile the children with Brad (the fact he spent the first three full days the week he had his children working, after nearly two years without such access, would have gone a long way in providing the cause of said issue I might add. Can’t blame AJ for blocking access when she wasn’t even in the country). And where was she repeatedly rebuked? Warning her that any interference could affect her own custody is standard. Ordering her not to monitor communications is standard. You are infering from said order that she has done so in the past, when it is simply an instruction on how to behave. With all the facts (emphasis on facts), before him I can assure you the judge would have issued more than a simple “rebuke” if he truly suspected her of alienation.
“An “answer” is a legal form filed with the court by the “respondent” in a court case. In a family law case, the “petitioner” is the person who starts the case by filing a “petition” with the court. The other side is the “respondent.” … the petitioner gives the respondent legal notice of a contested hearing date.”
Brad is the respondent. He is responding to Jolie. She asked for the extension. Get it right.
No, Brad is not responding to a petition to extend. Brad is the responded for the petition of Angelina to dissolve their marriage. He is always being referred to as the respondent to their divorce and custody case. Brad, the respondent was the one who filed for the extension to retain the private judge, not Angie, the petitioner.
Explains the confusing reporting.
Bottomline-there is no truce or imminent agreement.
Bottom line is that it has been proven Brad is the one constantly stalling..
Google can tell you otherwise, funny how you’re an expert on all matters on this case constantly though.
Are you dear blind or just plain silly? He is the respondent in this whole case and always has represents as this in every filing
I was wrong. Yes, I see that now.
It’s too bad you had to be ridiculed because you were wrong. This site is usually better than this:(
It’s ok LadyD. 😚 no one is perfect.
It is not a response. It is a Stipulation signed and agreed upon by both parties. The party who files it is irrelevant. Trial continuances are as common as trials going forward. Both parties were simply not ready.
This explanation makes a lot more sense than one party requesting an extension when the other doesn’t want it, as some people are trying to frame it in the comments here.
HAHAHAHAHA
Thank you to all the commentators who fact checked this story. In the age of fake news, it’s important to understand the difference to gossip/speculation vs. What is publicly available information. #FACTSMATTER
Exact
Angelina seems to be the one ready to dissolve the marriage. She filed paper work asking the judge to finalize before the end of the year and she’s already handed over her financial documents which is required for a divorce. Brad must be stalling because of his make it wrong lawsuit and he has multiple movies in 2019 so he wants it to keep going.
AJ should put her foot down and fight for this to end quickly but she’s been too nice to him throughout the entire two years. While he throws her and her children under a tabloid bus she remains silent . When he can’t connect with the children she’s forced to step in and help him. It’s a mess of unfairness. If he did everything right from the beginning instead of dr shopping the divorce would be over by now and custody probably settled.
I think this is a case of ” Don’t want to let you go”
Nah. His team is constantly claiming he’s dating and totally over AJ and her oldest two sons. So doubt it. He likely has some one else by now. It’s more about whatever he’s not disclosing to finish things up and custody that he’s not gonna get. Angelina Jolie claims she’s learned to move onto to the next stage more quickly and she’s disclosed and asked for it to be finalized by the end of the year. So I believe she’s over him.
On his part apparently since he keeps extending and won’t let her have the bifurcation she wants
It takes two to produce a Stipulation. This extension was agreed upon by both sides. It benefits Angelina because she needs to appear to be willing to settle. This is a good thing for her.
I think it’s a case of “I want to preserve my “dad of six kids” image I’ve banked on for the last decade.”
Obviously something is not right on his end. Relationship with his kids or his finances are in order, something ain’t clean.
I blame Nicole Kidman for all of this. If she just would have stayed in Mr and Mrs Smith none of this would be happening.
3 beautiful children will not have been born so no, I don’t think even Angelina regrets meeting Brad.
Don’t they have 6 beautiful children?
Yes but 3 biological children.
Angelina would have adopted the 3 without Brad either way.
They do have six kids, but the older three would have been adopted by Angie even if she didn’t meet Brad. Actually Mad already was.
I don’t know what she would or would not have done with or without Brad as I do not know her personally. I just know that I do not think it is right to make this distinction about their adopted children. Hopefully their parents don’t make this distinction either. Bottom line is they have 6 beautiful children period.
huckle, to be fair to Maya, she didn’t say that they only had three kids, or that only three of the kids are beautiful. she said that THREE WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN BORN, which is absolutely true.
Jolie would have the three she adopted, and who knows if she would have had any bio kids had she and Pitt not gotten together. Maya isn’t saying the adopted three aren’t beautiful, or that they aren’t “really” her kids.
I understand and agree with you that no one should distinguish between adopted and bio kids when referring to them as the Jolie-Pitt kids…yes, they have six kids, but that’s not the distinction that Maya was making.
It was a joke. I can’t stand Brad or Angelina and just felt like shifting blame to a third party for a day or two.
Lol we’d have lost out on so much great gossip
ROTFL blaming Nicole Kidman. That was funny. I believe you are right in this matter. I think lust took over these two blatanly different people in the beginning. Factor in the quick child to uphold Pitt’s image and reason for leaving Aniston. Their family grew very fast with six little ones and a mountain of press and paparazzi. They really didn’t have time to get to know each other and really see who they were dealing with until the kids got older and needed more of his parental guidance. He is not the great dad Jolie lied and upheld in the press. Anyone who thinks it is ok to drink and smoke everyday with six impressionable teens is off their rocker and not a good parent.
Yet the media and people condemn Angelina for saying enough is enough. Even after he admitted it people still want to hang her for his mess.
Anyone who was still under monitored visits after two years is not ok. Then his lawyers went to court and cried to the judge that she wasn’t convincing the kids that he was safe to be with.
And that she was perhaps maybe talking him down to them. Let me just add, a child knows better than anyone who their father is and how he treats them. Angelina cannot convince them or brainwash them of that. Those kids are preteens and teenagers. There is no way possible.
I don’t know what he did or said to them to make them not warm up to him but that is a broken vessel he has to repair. As Angie stated she had did everything she could and it is now up to the court, the kids and Brad to fix that mess HE created.
And people need to stop with the alienation crap. That was Brad and his lies trying to come up with a reason why those kids don’t want to be around him. As always blame the mom. If the courts would ask the kids they would tell them the truth.
Actually sometimes (not saying in this case) a mother can repeatedly lie about the father, to such an extent that the kids believe it. Once they are adults they can usually see the truth, but as kids/teens they are vulnerable. I’m not saying that’s the case with the Jolie-Pitt kids but it is very possible, I’ve seen it happen. In this instance I think the J-P kids have seen their Dad’s behaviour for themselves and have been able to make their own conclusions. No upselling required.
I don’t think Angelina ever lied to protect Brad or his image. He always had his vices, but he was probably a great dad and partner for most of their relationship. I think the wheels started to come off in 2015-2016 and they started spending less time together (with the kids mostly under her care.) I think that’s when his drinking really escalated. When they were together, there was probably considerable friction that culminated in the plane incident.
But I don’t think Angelina ever outright lied about him as a husband and father. I think it’s more likely his failures were not prevalent until their last couple years together.
See you knew it was a joke!! People acting like I was saying children shouldn’t be born. It was just humor since people seem to get so upset over the Brad/Angelina debacle. A debacle that wouldn’t exist if not for Nicole Kidman.
A JOKE!!
I’ve just completed a long, financially complex divorce w/custody issues. It will be finalized before the end of the year but it’s been 4 1/2 years. It’s been my observation that you can tell very little about the issues of the case thru filings. My ex filed for at least 8 continuances and I filed for 1 ( which he ironically thru a fit about )
Most of the conclusions outsiders made based on filings were wildly out of sync of what was actually happening
Thank you. I wrote something similar a few months ago and it was not posted. You cannot know what is going on unless you are in it. Investigations, temporary custody agreements, extensions – outsiders don’t know what is actually happening.
California Family Law Attorney here. A Stipulation and Order means that both parties agree to something, in this case a continuance. So both parties agreed to continue the trial and extend the private judge. BP attorney just filed the paperwork.
She might agree with it but she didn’t file it, and his team is leaking it as if she did. It fits with the angle he’s been pushing like “Angie has a hard time accepting it’s over”. She filed for bifurcation, his response was I wanted it first. Why is he stalling now? He didn’t even submit his finances.
I thought they would both have to agree. (Attorney’s wife). There are some armchair attorneys here. You need to know the law plus the individual state’s law. It is very complicated.
With regards to my correction, I’m well aware what an S&O entails and usually I’d agree with the sentiment that it’s irrelevant who filed it . Except the last 3 have all been filed by Pitt, so its not a stretch for me to believe HE keeps asking for them as he is well within his rights if he (or both) needs more time for whatever reason even after a hundred years of this mess.
Angelina said on the record she wanted things sorted by the end of the year & has complied with the next step ‘re her financial disclosure, while he still hasn’t a month later . And why the blast would lie so blatantly about who filed it & why tabloids who Pitt regularly leaks to( and granted make things up too) would pick this up and run with it, had they just said both parties agreed, I’d have no issues other than ugh is this still going on.
To me it seems he’s stalling and has been for a while now. My guess is that this latest extension just a month after it was agreed & two weeks after another was filed, is because of his Make It Right lawsuit – he wants to have the case against him dismissed, that’s an on going process in New Orleans with his lawyers on it & where the judge made a few decisions this week. Until (If ) he’s dismissed from that case, his personal assets are on the table . That means there can’t be a financial/ property settlement until that’s sorted. Pitts stalling for his own reasons and Angelina has no choice but to go along with it for now. Just my take of course.
I was going to comment on exactly that re Pitt stalling because of the New Orleans/MIR case. I’m wondering if that case, until it’s dismissed, puts his financials at risk, so, there won’t be any movement on the divorce until then. But I’m not an expert, I have no clue; only wondering if that’s what’s been advised to Pitt by his lawyers and financial advisers. Again, my opinion, but I kinda think Pitt would prefer the whole thing to be done with immediately, but because there’s so much money involved/at stake, that’s the course of action he’s chosen to follow. But who knows. Maybe lawyers who’ve experienced these types of cases would know if this kind of stalling is actually a sound decisions or just one of several options and his hands aren’t necessarily that tied.
Never mind my comment. Just read the order from back in May and there’s an item about the children remaining – or rather, if they remain closed down to their father, etc., etc. So, clearly something developed and finally happened. Maybe all this delay is an effort to rebuild the relationship to Pitt, but that just doesn’t happen overnight. Eeeahgh, yeesh. What a mess he made.
Angie needs to stop allowing him to use her name, when it’s him extending the process b/c he can’t get all his kids to see him. Looks like more and more tho, they both don’t want to end it. I would think Angie would like to move on but she’s still allowing him to get away w/ stuff. SMH. Angie really needs to get tougher, she really is too nice yet most women and Brad stans think she’s a horrible woman. She’s not.
The angle is that the longer this gets drawn out, the more money the lawyers get and the more likely it is that the kids stay with AJ. BP lost his sh*t once, that we know of, but all other reports were that he was a good father. He wants to keep doing that, but he screwed up badly enough that she has been able to use it. She wants to be in charge of all aspects of their connection with their father–something she’s known for in lots of other areas of her life. So…typical parents who probably shouldn’t have had kids together. Either way, the longer the clock runs with her being their primary parent, the more likely it is that the court will give it to her permanently. The woman is known as a PR strategy genius, there is no way she wouldn’t be applying the same skill set to her legal situation.
Well Pax for sure will now have a say in what he wants to do. He’ll be 15, tomorrow, his bday (if I’m not mistaken) and if this goes on another year, he’ll be 16. So he like Maddox will be able to choose if they want to see Brad or not. Don’t think these two boys won’t to see him tho. We won’t be calling them kids anymore, they’re teenagers, at least Maddox, Pax, Zahara and Shiloh will be teenagers.
I wish Angie wouldn’t extend. I want her to move on w/ her life w/o Brad tagging along and/or smearing her good name. But I guess she’s doing it for her kids. Another year of this just seems silly to me tho. I’m tired of talking about it. Just want Angie to be happy and get somebody who truly cares and loves her and her kids.
Sorry but she is just a lioness fighting for her cubs.
Brad traumatised the children and sent them to therapy.
He wasn’t allowed to see the children without supervision for almost 2 years.
Brad threw them out of their home and kept the inventory.
Brad hasn’t submitted his financials to the court yet like Angelina has.
Brad has asked for extension 3 times the last 6-7 months.
Brad is the culprit here and it’s pretty obvious he is not caring about the children.
Did Brad really throw them out of their home? I thought Angie just never returned home once she left the plane with the kids. Huh. Learn something new every day.
What do you suggest Brad do to receive joint custody and bring the divorce to an end.? Cause to me it seems like he is pussyfooting around…. like he’s waiting on her to make a decision. If he wanted to bifurcate then he should have done it instead of waiting for Angelina to file first. If she is being difficult then take her to court!
There is something wrong with him.
By the time they get this mess sorted out, all the kids will be old enough to vote.
Or maybe Angie doesn’t care because both parties agreed to it. Some divocrces and child custody cases can be tricky and take a while. Doesn’t mean that one party is all good and the other is all bad. More than likely it means both Angie and Brad’s lawyers are taking their time to ensure things are done right for their kids and their family. This is smart! I don’t understand why people are complaining that it’s taking too long. I would imagine they want to get it right the first time to ensure that there won’t be additional back and forth after they reach an agreement / settle. Also, regardless of how one feels about Brad Pitt – I imagine that he is someone who loves his kids and wants to make sure he and his family have equal access to the kids. You cannot put a timeframe on getting this type of issue right.
Someone who loves their kids doesn’t let everyone call a 15 year old boy a spoiled brat because of his own faults while intoxicated. He never cleared the air while everyone said horrible things about Maddox and Angie. He just had his team put out “poor me” articles and let them, especially Maddox, take the fall.
And it’s not like this is made up – we know maddox has been resistant to him from court orders.
Fine, if the custody takes time so be it. Angie said she wanted a bifurcation that would allow her to be single while still sorting out custody and financial details and submitted her disclosures to proceed the process. He hasn’t. It’s stalling, custody aside. The kid issue is not relevant as it can be sorted out after bifurcation. But he’s taking his time thus not allowing her to have it. They are clearly not on the same page with many matters.
I do agree but Angie thinks he can’t be trusted. I think she knows his family can the issue is with him. I still stand by the fact he had to say and do something unforgettable to use the words “safe.” As I said before his lawyers went crying to the judge and a Wasser who has been replaced was being sucked in by Speigel.
Yes Angie likes to be in control but if the judge didn’t somewhat agree with her this case would have been decided.
She won y’all. Her great lawyer said the deal was made two weeks ago which means he put that bogus story out about them reaching an agreement. Dude’s a loser. After over two years, he still get get the kids, he didn’t get 50/50 custody b/c you know that’s what we would be hearing.
I’m proud of Angie. Glad this part is over so this woman can fully move on from this guy.