New York divorce attorney, Leon Mindin, Esq. weighs in on what’s ahead for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: It's all about custody of the kids
The news of Brangelina's split hit us hard Monday afternoon. The internet went haywire with memes of Jennifer Aniston getting her revenge all these years later – it really doesn’t get much bigger than this: Angelina Jolie Pitt has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, and she’s going for full custody of their six kids.
“Most likely money is not the motivating factor here, but the children are” says attorney Leon Mindin Esq. of The Law Offices of Mindin and Mindin P.C, who looks at this issue from a New York perspective “Angelina filed for full custody under the law because ancillary relief must be raised in your divorce complaint, otherwise you cannot raise the issue at a later date.” Mindin goes on to say that in his opinion these two A-listers have a common goal of keeping things out of the media and out of court of public opinion.
Mindin suspects that this case will have little to do with money or property and everything to do with custody. There’s no indication on the divorce petition of a pre- or post-nuptial agreement, he said, and any custody wishes laid out in such a document would be deemed unenforceable because the court has to act in the best interest of the children, not the parents.
The press has already speculated about Brad’s alleged cheating – and that would be the driving force of coming to a quiet resolution and keeping these tabloid worthy facts out of court.
California, much like New York is a no-fault state, there doesn’t have to be a complaint alleging infidelity on Brad’s part, Mindin said, if the parties can reach an agreement out of court.
The kids will “go as a pack” when it comes to custody, regardless of the fact that some are adopted and others are children of the marriage.
Travel for work by Pitt or Jolie is will also be an unlikely factor in the determination of custody – as actors and their rigid schedules are a common component in celebrity divorces in the state of California. Additionally, both parents have more than enough resources to hire nannies, teachers and others to help out, even in the case of 50-50 custody.
At 15, eldest child Maddox Jolie-Pitt has the right to express his custody preference to the court, and if the request is reasonable and rational then it must be taken into consideration.
Hopefully he won’t have to do that in court, because having to ‘choose between your parents,’ is something no child should ever have to be put through. Especially when you have kids who’ve been adopted, they have a fear of abandonment, and putting them through another go-round of that, that’s really hard on kids in general, especially adopted kids.
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