Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Finalized Their Divorce, Finally. Here's What Happened.
Few people go into divorce intending for it to be as painful and lengthy as possible. But as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's divorce goes to show, sometimes things get messy. The former celebrity couple finalized their divorce at the close of 2024, eight years after initially filing for divorce. They were in the process of divorcing for four times as long as the length of their marriage.
What Happened?
Eight years is an unusually long time for any divorce. However, certain circumstances tend to lengthen divorce, including child custody disputes and shared business interests. In Brangelina's divorce, both of these issues were prevalent. Other factors unique to this case also prolonged the divorce. For example, the original presiding judge was removed from the case due to undisclosed business dealings with Pitt's lawyers years into the proceedings.
It should also be mentioned that an eight-year divorce takes an abundance of anger and money. The Jolie/Pitt divorce had both.
We'll go through each of these issues in more detail below.
Brangelina's Custody Battle
Child custody disputes are hugely important to divorcing parents. Pitt and Jolie had three children together. The two also adopted three children over several years. That is enough to cause complications in itself.
Unfortunately, there were also allegations of abusive behavior. In 2022, amid a dispute over their jointly-owned winery, Jolie alleged that before filing for divorce, Pitt was physically and emotionally abusive. In a legal filing, Jolie claimed that he was physically abusive with both her and their children while on a private flight between Europe and California. The FBI and child services investigated but did not criminally charge Pitt with any wrongdoing.
The details of the child custody arrangement were not publicly disclosed. In a divorce settlement, the parties can keep the arrangement private. However, four children have already reached the age of majority during the dispute, with only the 16-year-old twins needing a shared parenting plan (or sole custody, depending on what agreement was reached).
The first custody arrangement was reached in 2016, with Jolie retaining custody of all children. However, subsequent legal battles ended this arrangement. In 2021, the court ordered joint custody, but the presiding judge was subsequently removed from the case and the two went back to square one.
Château Miraval
The latest sticking point in the marriage was over Château Miraval, a winery in France. FindLaw wrote about the details in 2023. The basics are that Château Miraval is not a hobby winery — it is a multi-million dollar business located on prime real estate. The couple disagreed on how much money and effort each put into the property. Pitt, for example, points to a partnership with a renowned winemaker to improve quality, while Jolie updated the château to better administer her philanthropic endeavors.
Jolie also sold her share in the winery to Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler without Pitt's approval.
The former couple declined to publicly share the settlement details of the winery.
What Is a Bifurcated Divorce?
Custody disputes and business interests are often contested in a divorce. But eight years is a long time to dispute these issues with someone you no longer want anything to do with.
One reason Pitt and Jolie could continue to wrangle over these issues was because they received a bifurcated divorce in 2019. This means the judge granted the divorce with other matters to be decided later. Since 2019, both are legally single in the eyes of the law and free to remarry. Both have had separate lives for many years. Pitt, for example, is in a public relationship. A bifurcated divorce allows a divorcing couple to move on with their lives without conceding certain aspects of the divorce. It does, however, carry the risk of prolonging divorce proceedings. California law allows for a bifurcated divorce, but this is not true of all states.
Money and Anger
Finally, it should be mentioned that an eight-year divorce is only feasible when both spouses are wealthy. And for celebrity divorces, each couple has a certain stake in protecting their image during a divorce, meaning there is more incentive to contest issues that otherwise a party might be willing to concede to shorten the process.
So, while divorce can become contentious, this case is unique in various ways. It is, quite simply, one of the messier public divorces in recent memory. For most of us, fortunately, an eight-year divorce is practically impossible, let alone desirable.
Related Resources
- Legal Fun With Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift's Alleged "Breakup Plan" (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
- 'Brangelina' Breakup Continues in Court over Château and Winery (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
- Is Britney Spears' Divorce Toxic? (FindLaw's Courtside)
