Brad Pitt reportedly believes a custody trial will be "unnecessarily damaging" for his children.
Brad Pitt
The 'Moneyball' actor and his estranged wife Angelina Jolie are expected to spend two to three weeks in court from 4 December in front of a private judge, but the 54-year-old actor would rather they resolved their issues before then and spared Maddox, 17, Pax, 14, Zahara, 13, Shiloh, 12, and 10-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne the ordeal.
Insiders told The Blast that the 'World War Z' star thinks Angelina is being "irresponsible" with the trial and feels they have been embarrassed enough since their separation, pointing out the children are all old enough to read the news and listen to gossip about their famous parents.
Brad is said to be worried Angelina just wants to make him look bad in her bid for sole custody, while he can see no reason for them to not split care of the children equally.
The couple split in September 2016 when the 'Maleficent' actress accused Brad of being abusive towards Maddox on a private plane, and insiders believe the 43-year-old star plans to use the incident as grounds for her receiving full custody.
However, the 'Burn After Reading' star and his legal team are not worried because he was never charged with any offence and the upcoming trial is not a criminal matter.
Evaluations for the children have already begun, and the judge will rely heavily on their findings in his ruling over custody.
Financial disputes will be resolved separately.
Earlier this year, Angelina was reprimanded by a judge for not allowing Brad more access to the children.
The judge told her: "If the minor children remain closed down to their father and depending on the circumstances surrounding this condition, it may result in a reduction of the time they spend with [Jolie] and may result in the Court ordering primary physical custody to [Pitt]."
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