Angelina & Brad: Inching toward a custody agreement, but it's not over yet

December 01, 2018
Entertainment

Why the devil haven’t they settled yet? Is this any way to run a divorce?Â

These are the inevitableÂ questions as the now-two-year-long donnybrook divorce of mega stars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie threatens to drag on well into the new year.

Still, theÂ couple appeared to inch toward a newÂ custody agreement as the clock turned toward December.

On Friday, Jolie’s lawyer, Samantha Bley DeJean, released a statement touting what appeared to be a truce.

â€œA custody arrangement was agreed to weeks ago, and has been signed by both parties and the judge. The agreement, which is based on the recommendations of the child custody evaluator, eliminates the need for a trial. The filing and details of the agreement are confidential to protect the best interests of the children.â€

Jolie “is very pleased to be entering the next stage and relieved with the progress for the health of their family,” a source familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly tells USA TODAY.Â

But this isn’t a final custody agreement, and no details ofÂ the arrangement have been made public.Â “It is progress, this is a step in the right direction but there has been no final resolution,”Â another source familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly tells USA TODAY.

The couple and their teams of divorce lawyers were to meet next week before a private judge,Â retired Los Angeles County Judge John Ouderkirk, for a trial on the main issue that has bedeviled theÂ case since Jolie filed for divorce in September 2016:

Will either of them get sole physical custody of their six kids or will they share custody?Â

But the trial isn’t going to happen, at least not on Dec. 4, 2018, according to a source familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly.Â

Meanwhile, Ouderkirk’s jurisdiction over the case has been extended again, for six months until December 2019, according to a document filed this week in Los Angeles County Superior Court and examined by The BlastÂ and E!.

Earlier, the couple sought and got an extension for Ouderkirk until June 2019.

If the couple and their lawyers think they need to have theirÂ judge available until the end of next year, or even until June, it suggests the gap between them on how to manage their children’s future is still yawning.

Either that or the couple wants so fervently to keep their custody battle out of the public space they’re willing to pay a private judge to be available while they continue negotiations.

Privately adjudicated divorces are a boon to celebs hoping to protect their privacy. Even if there is a trial or hearingÂ in the Jolie/Pitt divorce in the future, the media could be barred despite the public’s right to know.

While all divorce hearings in California are supposed to be open to the public, private judges typically hold their sessions in private law offices or legal centers that can be closed to the media due to lack of space, leaving reporters outside futilely Googling their access and First Amendment rights.Â

Previously,Â a source familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly said Jolie and Pitt and their lawyers “are still working together to find an out-of-court settlement.â€

The judge is the same judge who officiated their surpriseÂ 2014 wedding in France at their Chateau Miraval, their country estate and vineyardÂ in Provence, which they still own.

While they argue over custody,Â the divorce seems to have stalledÂ even though the coupleÂ requested “bifurcation,” allowing them to separateÂ the issueÂ of marital status from the custody and financial issues.Â

The upshot:Â Brangelina has become shorthand for textbook anti-conscious uncoupling, according to image experts who say this kind of knock-down-drag-out is rare for celebrity couples, who more than most seek to wrap it up and move on as quickly and as quietly as possible.

Spokespeople for Pitt and Jolie declined to comment on their divorce to USA TODAY.Â