Why Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's Divorce Settlement Took 8 Years to Reach

The better part of a decade after beginning the divorce process, things are officially over between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

“More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt. She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family," Jolie's lawyer, James Simon, told People in a statement. "This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over."

The pair split in 2016, when Jolie filed for divorce after an incident on a private plane, during which the actress claimed Pitt was abusive toward their six children (the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services eventually cleared Pitt after investigating the allegations), but reaching a settlement in the divorce took years.

According to a separate report from People, experts say the former couple's lengthy divorce timeline was "absolutely" not normal and was caused by a "perfect storm" of factors, including Pitt's DCFS investigation, custody disputes, and issues with the original judge on the case.

Another factor that John Lambros, a family law attorney licensed in Florida, Michigan and Massachusetts who spoke to People about the legal issues surrounding Pitt and Jolie's divorce said could have contributed to the drawn-out settlement saga is bifurcation.

In 2019, the actors' divorce was bifurcated, meaning that they were declared legally single even though their settlement negotiations were ongoing.

“What does everybody want to do when you're in a divorce? You want to get divorced,” Lambros said, explaining that bifurcating the divorce can reduce people's incentive to reach a settlement quickly. “When you bifurcate that case and you grant them their divorce, well, a lot of the pressure of ‘I'm still married’ is gone.”

Although all six of the couple's children were minors when Jolie filed for divorce, now, only the youngest, 16-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne, are still under 18. The couple's other four children—Maddox, 23, Pax, 21, Zahara, 19, and Shiloh, 18—are all legally adults and no longer a part of any formal custody arrangement. A source told People earlier this year that Pitt has "virtually no contact with the adult kids."

“His engagement with the younger kids is more limited in recent months because of his filming schedule,” referring to Pitt's production schedule filming the racing movie F1 on-location in Europe.

The source added that Jolie “has the kids most of the time, but, per their agreement, he has visitation with the younger kids.”

In May, Shiloh filed paperwork to legally change her last name from "Jolie-Pitt" to "Jolie," a decision that insiders said was purely her own.

"Shiloh hired her own lawyer and paid for it herself," a source told People at the time.

People reported that Pitt's representatives declined to confirm or comment on the settlement, which Jolie's lawyer described as a "relief" for the actress.

"She doesn’t speak ill of [Pitt] publicly or privately," a source close to Jolie told the outlet. "She’s been trying hard to be light after a dark time."