The long, ugly, messy custody battle between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie isn’t ending any time soon, folks.
The two have been arguing over Brad’s unpaid child support, and it looks like they’ve given up on resolving this without a judge.
The exes formerly known as Brangelina are going to have a custody trial.
It’s been two years since this once-famously in love couple split.
Apparently, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt haven’t been able to settle custody issues themselves in all of that time.
TMZ reports that these bitter exes are going to have a custody trial.
Brad and Angelina have filed documents with an L.A. Superior Court Judge.
They will have until June of 2019 to work out a custody arrangement for their shared children.
And they will have the help of a private judge.
According to TMZ, the custody trial is scheduled to begin nearly a month from now, on December 4.
Angelina and Brad haven’t been able to reconcile their different views of how custody should be arranged.
It seems doubtful that a few more weeks will give them time to see eye-to-eye.
See, Angelina is seeking sole physical custody of their six children.
In the mean time, Brad wants a fifty-fifty split — joint custody.
Apparently the custody trial itself is expected to last anywhere from two to three weeks.
But that is only part of the process.
The judge will have to pour over the evidence and arguments presented at trial and reach a verdict regarding custody.
It also falls to this judge to handle the couple’s property settlement.
Angelina and Brad did not have a prenup.
Given that they are both intensely wealthy and extremely bitter towards each other, this is one of the worst situations for not having a prenup.
Brad has been seriously bitter and complained that Angelina has denied him access to his own children.
Recently, the court forced Angelina to allow Brad some time with the children.
She was also required to give him their phone numbers and allow them to communicate with him.
If Brad gets his way in court, he’ll get them with him half of the time, and there will be little to nothing that Angelina can do about it.
If Angelina gets her way, it’s unlikely that she’ll be forced to hand over access to the six children.
If you recall the circumstances of their divorce in the first place, it’s no mystery why Angelina is so reluctant to expose her children to Brad.
It was only two years ago that something happened on the couple’s private plane.
Whatever the specifics of the reported altercation between Brad and the couple’s son, Maddox, it led Angelina to file for divorce the next day.
She also reported Brad PItt to the FBi — for child abuse.
Maddox is old enough that this custody ruling is unlikely to impact him.
But it seems likely that, after whatever she witnessed, Angelina is afraid that history will repeat itself. She can’t risk it.
But she may have no choice, depending upon what this judge decides.
Courts tend to err on the side of giving parents access to their children, out of a belief that this is ultimately best for the child.
If Brad convinces the court that he’s probably not a danger to their children, Angelina will be hard pressed to get anything more than joint custody.
Whatever happens, we hope that the court makes the right decision for the safety and well-being of the children.
That, in the end, is all that matters.
