Angelina Jolie filed a new petition with regard to her divorce from Brad Pitt. This time around, she asked the private judge who oversees their divorce proceeding to be disqualified over insufficient and late disclosure of his business dealings with one of Pitt's lawyers.
In her court filing, on Monday, Jolie stressed that Judge John W. Ouderkirk should be removed from their divorce case. The Maleficent actress argued that Ouderkirk failed to disclose the cases he was hired for involving Pitt attorney Anne C. Kiley.
In her new petition, Jolie stressed that like other judges, a private judge must follow the same rules of disclosure and conflict of interest. The actress' lawyers noted that they have sought in private proceedings to have Ouderkirk disqualify himself. However, Pitt's camp insisted on keeping him.
High-profile couples normally hire a private judge when they file for divorce. In their divorce proceeding, Jolie and Pitt, also, hired a private judge to keep the filings as well as their personal and financial details sealed, although some legal aspects of the case must be made within standard court procedure.
The actress' latest filing came weeks after it was reported that her relationship with Pitt has gotten better after Brad was seen a couple of times leaving Jolie's house in Los Angeles. It signified that the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood actor was, already, allowed to visit their kids at Angelina's estate. Reports have it that the couple is doing great in co-parenting their children.
Angelina Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, ending their two-year marriage. Last year, Brangelina was declared divorced after their respective lawyers asked for bifurcated judgment.
Under the ruling, the former spouses were declared single while other issues, including finances and child custody, remain. In addition, the "Pitt" in the Tomb Raider actress' name was, also, dropped.
In their ongoing case, it wasn't clear what were the issues that remained unsolved since their divorce documents were sealed from public scrutiny. Since the divorce filing, Jolie and the Ad Astra actor have been battling legally over custody and finances. There were reports that The Eternals actress tried to get sole custody and demanded more financial support from Pitt.
In 2018, Jolie filed documents stating that her ex-husband wasn't paying sufficient child support. Pitt's camp, however, denied the claim and asked the court for both joint legal and physical custody of their children. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie share six kids together.
