Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt should know better than to drag out their custody battle any longer

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s divorce is making headlines again, as the couple battle it out over custody of their six children.

According to court documents, Pitt has stepped in to seek more contact with his kids, in a move that may now put Jolie at risk of losing custody altogether.

It’s been reported that the issue has come to a head because Jolie plans to take the children with her to Europe while she films Maleficent 2, which is likely to take several months. At the same time, Pitt will be filming in LA, and will be unable to make regular visits.

The couple announced their shock split almost two years ago, having managed to keep the demise of their relationship under wraps until the divorce proceedings had begun.

And since that point, it’s been clear that the split is an acrimonious one. While neither party has ever directly addressed the reasons for the breakup, what has been said paints a picture of a fairly bitter ending.

Last year, Pitt said he and his former wife had decided to put an end to the “vitriolic hatred” and try to work together to sort out the divorce. However, dragging their children into the courts over scheduling issues would suggest that any peace they brokered has since been shattered.

There is really no need for the two stars to put their children through this. Jolie is the star of Maleficent 2 - she is Maleficent. So it would be extremely difficult to make the movie without her, which gives her plenty of sway should she decide to ask that filming be moved to make it more convenient to comply with existing custody arrangements.

Similarly, Pitt is one of the most bankable Hollywood stars in history. If he wanted to put filming back by a few months to allow him to travel and see his kids, it probably wouldn’t be that difficult.

There’s also an argument to be made that neither one of them is struggling for cash, and could simply forego whatever role is getting in the way of their children having access to both their parents. It might seem extreme, but given the lengths each of them will go to in order to gain custody of their kids, surely neither Brad nor Angelina would think twice about sacrificing career gains for family time?

After all, as trite as it may be, it’s certainly the children who will suffer in all of this. Besides missing whichever parent they can’t spend time with, the older kids aren’t going to enjoy seeing their mum and dad’s arguments spread over front pages yet again.

The oldest Jolie-Pitt sibling is 16, and will undoubtedly be fully aware of the coverage his parents’ spat is garnering. It’s probably overly optimistic to think some of his younger brothers and sisters will be shielded.

But Jolie and Pitt can’t have expected anything different when they started this fresh round of legal bickering. They know their every move is scrutinised by the tabloids and magazines, and in the past, they used this to their advantage. In fact, they continue to wield this power when it suits, when they need to promote a film, TV show or - more admirably - charitable cause.

They know how the celebrity-press relationship works, and they could have avoided making life more difficult for their kids. They will have been offered mediation as an alternative to taking their custody issues into a courtroom, and could have used those sessions to reach an agreement with no need to bring the matter before a judge.

What makes it worse is that the principle of “today’s newspaper is tomorrow’s fish and chip paper” no longer applies. These days, today’s viral article stays online forever, and when one of the Jolie-Pitt kids, or their own kids, or their grandkids (you see where this is going) Googles either Brad or Angelina, they’ll see how ugly the separation got, laid out for all the world to see. And they’ll also know that it didn’t have to be this way.

Pitt and Jolie aren’t breaking the mould in their battle for custody; it’s always been one of the most contentious aspects of divorce. But they’ve got a lot of influence, and they’ve previously used it for good. They could do that again here, by deciding to put their shared children above whatever personal disputes they’re still embroiled in, and prioritise coming to a sensible agreement. It won’t stop divorces, or custody battles, from happening, but it will show they can be carried out in a slightly less painful way.

Nobody’s asking them to kiss and make up – but a bit of growing up may be in order.