Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have finalized their divorce more than eight years after the actress initially filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Attorney Scott Weston, who is not representing either side, disclosed that the drawn-out process is “absolutely” atypical, with various factors likely contributing to the delay.
Jolie, 49, and Pitt, 61, who married in 2014 and have six children, had significant disagreements from the beginning, which Weston attributes to the prolonged legal battle in what he describes as “perhaps the most crowded superior court in the nation.”
Jolie filed for divorce in September 2016, citing irreconcilable differences, and sought physical custody of Maddox (23), Pax (21), Zahara (19), Shiloh (18), and twins Knox and Vivienne (16), who were all minors at that time.
 |
| Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in 2015. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty |
She stated that her decision was made “for the welfare of the family.”
Soon after, it emerged that Pitt was investigated by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) following allegations of his “verbal abuse” and “physical” altercations with the children on a private plane just before Jolie's divorce filing. Pitt's lawyer had stated that he would accept responsibility for some past behaviors but not for all the allegations.
John Lambros, a family law attorney licensed in Florida, Michigan, and Massachusetts, pointed out that DCFS involvement “can significantly delay the progress of a case.”
The DCFS and FBI concluded their investigations without bringing any charges against Pitt, and Jolie chose not to press charges. However, Lambros noted that Jolie and Pitt, who at the time had only visitation rights, continued to clash over custody and other issues related to their children.
Angelina and Brad Pitt in 2015. Hostility between the former couple was evident in the legal documents, with Pitt requesting the divorce proceedings to be sealed, a move Jolie's legal team opposed, labeling it “a thinly disguised attempt to protect himself, rather than the minor children, from public scrutiny” in a filed court document.
Lambros commented that such contentious exchanges “do not expedite matters” and hamper the progress of the case.
In 2017, Jolie and Pitt appeared to be striving for a more friendly resolution. Both parties “signed agreements to uphold their children's and family’s privacy rights by keeping all court documents private and engaging a private judge for necessary legal rulings,” as per a statement from that time.
After a year, the situation deteriorated again. The private judge, John Ouderkirk, who was hired by the couple for their case, made a decision that granted Pitt increased visitation. Additionally, the judge warned Jolie that she might risk losing full custody "if the Minor Children continue to be distant from their father."
 |
| Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie with their children Maddox and Zahara in 2014. |
In 2019, their divorce was partially finalized—Jolie and Pitt were declared legally single, even though other matters, including custody, were still unresolved. Lambros suggests this may have reduced some of the urgency to finalize the remaining issues.
“When you're going through a divorce, the primary desire is to become divorced,” he says. “Once their divorce was granted, much of the pressure from still being married while dealing with the remaining issues dissipated.”
In 2021, Jolie and Pitt faced another setback when Judge Ouderkirk was disqualified from the case. An appeals court ruled that Ouderkirk had not adequately disclosed his business relationships with Pitt’s lawyers, terming his actions "an ethical breach."
“Whenever an appellate process is involved, it inevitably slows things down,” says Lambros. Weston adds, "It causes the case to progress very slowly until that particular issue is resolved."
Recently, they have also been in a dispute over Miraval, the valuable French winery they co-owned. In 2022, Pitt sued Jolie for breach of contract, accusing her of not informing him about selling her share of the business to a Russian oligarch.
According to Lambros, these combined issues created a “perfect storm.”
However, on December 30, both Pitt and Jolie signed the divorce settlement. “Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved that this part is finally over,” her divorce lawyer James Simon of Hersh Mannis stated to PEOPLE in a comment. A representative for Pitt chose not to confirm or provide any comments.