In 'Extremely Rare' Move, an Order in Jolie-Pitt Divorce Case

Judge mandates Jolie give her ex more access to their 6 kids or risk losing primary custody
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 13, 2018 2:03 AM CDT
Judge to Jolie: Give Pitt Access to Kids or Risk Primary Custody
This Nov. 4, 2015, file photo shows Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.   (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

In what one expert tells People is an "extremely rare" case, a judge has issued a new order involving Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's six children and warned that if Jolie doesn't follow the order, she could risk losing primary custody to Pitt. Various media outlets got their hands on the court documents, with CNN noting they mandate that Jolie tell their kids, who range in age from 9 to 16, that they'll be "safe with their father" and that it's "critical" they have a healthy relationship with both parents. The Blast lays out the order's details, which include a summer schedule on how much time Pitt gets with five of the children (16-year-old Maddox is allowed to decide this on his own due to his age); how often Jolie can contact the kids when they're with Pitt; and Pitt's access to the kids when they're with Jolie, including giving him the numbers to each child's cellphone, which Jolie isn't permitted to monitor.

The kids will be traveling back and forth between Los Angeles and London, where Jolie rents a home, and they'll have to keep seeing their therapist while with Pitt, which family law attorney David Glass (not involved with the couple's divorce case) tells People is a positive sign. Glass explains that the judge's order suggests the case has evolved from estrangement (in which children have a strained relationship with one parent mainly due to that parent's actions) to alienation, in which one parent is actively turning the kids against the other. The Daily Beast notes Jolie's team has previously said Pitt has substance abuse problems and anger management issues. Jolie, 43, filed for divorce from Pitt, 54, in September 2016 after an allegedly drunken Pitt was reported to have been verbally and physically abusive with at least one of their children on a flight. (More Angelina Jolie stories.)

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