New Details About Brad Pitt and Angelina’s Child Custody Agreement Have Emerged But No One Knows What they Mean
Any divorce that deals with child custody is much more complicated that those that do not. Every child custody case is different and they all have the potential to be painful for everyone involved. These issues are only magnified when the parties in question are celebrities at the level of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Their divorce, much like their marriage, is something that almost everyone on the planet is paying attention to. This scrutiny only got more intense recently as lawyers for Jolie put out details about the current arrangements for the custody of the couple’s six children.
The statement that was released recently, says that Jolie will retain full custody of the six children but that Pitt will continue to have “therapeutic visits” with the children. No further explanation was given to give any indication about what, exactly, a “therapeutic visit” is.
A spokesperson for Jolie released the following:
“We can confirm that childcare professionals have encouraged a legal agreement accepted and signed by both sides over a week ago. In accordance with this agreement, the six children will stay in their mother’s custody, and the children will continue therapeutic visits with their father. This has been determined by childcare professionals to be in the children’s best interest.
“We are not in a position to discuss the details. We hope now that it is clear that the events which led to the dissolution filing involved minor children and their well being, there will be understanding of the sensitivity of the family situation. We believe that all sides are committed to healing the family and ask for your consideration during this difficult time.”
For his part, Pitt filed a counter petition a few days later and is also seeking full custody of the couple’s childre, Maddox Jolie-Pitt, 15, Pax Jolie-Pitt, 12, Zahara Jolie-Pitt, 11, Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, 10, and twins Knox Jolie-Pitt and Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, 8.
California divorce law is complicated as is their system for dealing with child custody issues. Many lawyers do not think that is likely that Jolie would get full custody of all six children. This is even more true after Pitt was recently cleared of any child abuse charges. The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) was looking into an alleged incident, which took place between Pitt, Jolie and their son Maddox on a flight. DCFS told Vanity Fair:andnbsp;
The job of the DCFS. is to make sure the children are in a safe and secure situation. As we said earlier this week, childcare professionals encouraged a legal agreement accepted and signed by both sides that was in the best interest of the children. Angelina said from the beginning that she felt she had to take action for the health of the family and is relieved that after their eight-week involvement, the D.C.F.S. is now satisfied the safeguards are put in place that will allow the children to heal.
While the actor has been cleared by DCFS, he is still being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Vanity Fairandnbsp;confirmed that the agency is still looking into any violations of federal law from the place incident.
In California, when people talk about child custody, they are really talking about two things. There is the legal custody of the child or children and the physical custody. The physical custody refers to where the child or children will live, say child custody lawyers and the legal custody refers to who will be able to make decisions on the child or children’s behalf. Experts have said they think both parents are looking for full physical custody but joint legal custody, as neither is looking to completely shut the other out of the children’s lives. Though it has been reported, in multiple outlets, that Pitt has only been able to see his children twice since the couple split in September.
It is hard to see how this drama will end but lawyers for both sides have their work cut out for them as they try to work through these complicated legal issues in front of the entire planet.
