Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have arrived at a temporary custody agreement. The judge-approved document signed on Dec. 2 indicates the former as having physical custody of the estranged couple's six children. The terms signed off on were mutually agreed upon by Jolie and Pitt in an earlier deal on Oct. 26.
Besides the terms indicated, the Angelina Jolie-Brad Pitt family is being seen through these troubled times by a team of mental health experts in what is termed "safe harbor therapy." According to the signed agreement, Brad Pitt will go on having mandatory random drug and alcohol testing. He will also continue with individual and group therapies every week.
While the children-eight-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne, 10-year-old Shiloh, 11-year-old Zahara, 13-year-old Pax, and 15-year-old Maddox-are staying with their mother, Angelina Jolie, they are also receiving individual counseling. Brad Pitt is granted therapeutic visitation to see them upon the recommendation of the therapist who evaluates whether those visits are in "the best interests of the children."
As to whether he will have the children over for Christmas, the children are given the choice. The present legal custody terms were agreed to by both parties, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, voluntarily. However, the latter may be feeling disadvantaged at the issue of visitation.
For Wednesday's hearing, some petitions were filed via email by Brad Pitt's and Angelina Jolie's lawyers. The former's attorney, Lance Speigel, states in one that "the therapy team has ignored or disregarded issues that [Brad] has raised" despite being compliant with the rules in the therapy program for his children.
Brad Pitt is not satisfied with the time he spends with his children, which is one visit per week and that upon the recommendation of the therapists. Although he and Angelina Jolie agreed to this arrangement giving the evaluating professional the power to decide what's best for their kids, Pitt is seen as trying to go around that agreement.
Brad Pitt's lawyer states that psychiatrists' recommendations aside, there is no reason why the actor should not request more time with his children. In November, in fact, Angelina Jolie was asked whether she would consider a new schedule for December wherein he would have four 30-to-60-minute monitored sessions.
Angelina Jolie, through her lawyer Laura Wasser, responded saying that Brad Pitt is not respecting what the therapists recommend as the best situation for the kids. After being turned down, Pitt also experienced yet another block to what he believes is his endeavor to look out for the best interests of his family. His application to the court to keep the documents in his divorce and custody proceedings sealed was also denied.