Relationships

Why Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are no closer to getting divorced than they were two years ago

''They aren't even close to working things out.''

It’s two years this month since Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt dropped the bombshell news that they were splitting up, but the couple are still no closer to actually getting divorced.

That’s because they can’t agree about custody of their six kids and are battling over visitation rights and child support. Angelina wants full custody, while Brad hopes to see more of his kids.

“They aren’t even close to working things out,” says a source close to the pair. “It’s just dragging on and on.”

They haven’t even discussed who gets what when it comes to dividing their assets because they’re so consumed by the custody issue.

“There will be no settlement or resolution anytime soon. They are kind of at an impasse at this point because the focus has been on custody – nothing else has been hashed out yet.”

In the meantime, their children Maddox (17), Pax (14), Zahara (13), Shiloh (12), Vivienne (10) and Knox (10) are stuck in the middle, and the divorce is understandably having an impact on them.

It hasn’t helped that their mother has recently been accused of spoiling the kids in an attempt to make them want to be with her.

“She wants all the kids to tell the judge they want to live with her,” says a source. “She’ll resort to any trick to make sure she gets custody.”

But dirty tactics are not the reason the Jolie-Pitt kids been getting lots of special treats, says a friend. Angelina’s just trying to make their lives a little bit better in what is a difficult time.

“Angelina’s kids are everything to her – their wellbeing is her top priority. She loves them all dearly. She feels guilty about the trauma the kids are dealing with, so she has doubled her efforts to make them happy.

“There have been lots of new clothes, trips to the toy shops and to amusement parks. But it has nothing to do with her trying to turn them against Brad – it’s all about making life a little bit brighter for them during a very hard time in all their lives.”

And the last thing she wants to do is make them spoiled brats – she has always been set on raising her kids to be empathetic to the plights of others.

“They’re all keenly aware of the struggles facing the less fortunate because they’ve seen it first-hand,” says the insider. “They’ve visited war zones and poverty-stricken countries – these are not kids living the typical sheltered lives that most children of Hollywood stars experience.”

Angelina also put their best interests at heart recently when she got rid of her divorce lawyer Laura Wasser and replaced her with Samantha Bley Dejean, because her expertise is in the “protection and best interest of children.”

It was later claimed that Laura quit because the custody battle had become very “venomous”, but Angelina’s team has denied that.

When Angelina (43) filed for divorce back on September 19, 2016, she asked for full custody of all six children.

She separated from Brad (54) the day after the Ocean’s 11 star was alleged to have been physically and verbally abusive to Maddox during a flight on a private plane. The incident was investigated by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family who found there was no abuse, and did not lay any charges against Brad.

In the meantime, it was ruled that the children were to live with Angelina. Brad was allowed to visit the youngest kids for five hours once a week, supervised by his therapist. Brad instructed his lawyers to argue for greater access and earlier this year he asked a judge to intervene when Angelina wanted to take the children to London, where she was filming Maleficent 2.

“He’s not okay with his kids being away for months,” says a source. “He feels that Los Angeles is their home base and this is where it is best for them to be.”

Leaked court documents showed that as well as setting out a schedule for when Brad could see the kids – including visiting them in London – a judge had ordered Angelina to allow her estranged husband more time with the children and told her she risked losing primary custody if she didn’t let them form a “healthy and strong relationship” with their dad.

The judge also ruled that the children could have cell phones on which they could call or text Brad without their communication being monitored by their mother.

Now Angelina has requested that Brad pay backdated child support because he has never made any “meaningful” payments. His lawyers have hit back, though, saying Brad has contributed more than $1.9 million to the kids’ expenses,as well as lending Angelina $12 million to help her buy a house.

Once the custody issue is solved and the lawyers start focusing on money, things could get even nastier.

Update: Though the couple have come to equal terms and are now both allowed to see the children, Shiloh has elected to move in with Brad, leaving Angelina behind in tears.

Related stories