Who gets what in the Brangelina divorce, from the rosé wine to the beloved dog
Nearly two years after Angelina Jolie has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, the warring couple have made the headlines again following another lawsuit. Jolie has accused her husband Brad Pitt of not paying child support since their separation in September 2016.
Jolie's lawyer filed papers in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday saying the actress wanted a judgment "returning the parties to single status during calendar year 2018." According to the document, Pitt has "paid no meaningful child support since separation" and, although informal arrangements had been made between Jolie and him, payments "had not been regularly sustained."
Jolie is seeking primary custody for the couple's six children. Once considered one of Hollywood’s true golden couples, the news that their 12-year-relationship was over shocked the Western world. Jolie said the divorce was motivated by “the health of the family”.
But while Jolie hasn’t requested spousal support from Pitt – who earns considerably more than her – the pair amassed an impressive empire during their time together. Furthermore, in 2016 she hired Laura Wasser, the Hollywood divorce lawyer who has handled Stevie Wonder, Heidi Klum, Ashton Kutcher, Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera in their high-profile marital suits and disputes.
Here’s what they are having to divvy up ahead of their separation:
The money
Forbes estimates that since getting together in 2004, Jolie and Pitt have earned more than $555 million (￡427 million) as a pair, of which their estimated net worth is around $400 million.
Since they married in 2014, they have earned a combined $117.5 million before taxes, largely thanks to Pitt who banked an estimated $76.5 million after films such as Fury, The Big Short (which he also produced) and the forthcoming World War Z 2. He’s earned ￡31.5 million this year alone.
How will they split it?
Both Jolie and Pitt have been married before: she to Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, he to Jennifer Aniston. They took a decade to get married to each other, and it’s reported that the pair would have had a pre-nuptual agreement.
This usually states that assets earned before the wedding stay with the person who acquired them, even if, like Jolie and Pitt, they were together for a decade before marrying. This means that the bulk of their wealth will go back to individual parties. As for that earned during the past two years, that will be outlined in any agreement – although it’s worth noting that Jolie’s earnings have been a fraction of Pitt’s in recent years.
Property and other assets collected during their two-year-long marriage will be split according to the terms of the pre-nup.
If they don’t have one, then their property will be divided according to the California community property laws, which splits everything down the middle.
The houses
Jolie and Pitt have quite the property portfolio:
Los Angeles
Their main family home is based on a sprawling estate in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, which Pitt bought in 1994 before living in it with his first wife, Aniston. It’s since been done up after the Jolie-Pitt brood came along, with a large swimming pool and child-friendly extras such as room for Maddox to ride his dirtbikes.
Chateau Miraval
The $60 million, 35-bed mansion in France has a strong sentimental pull for the family. It’s where Jolie and Pitt married in 2014, and Jolie is said to consider it her ancestral home because of the connection it provides to her late French mother. Jolie and Pitt bought it in 2008 and have since produced eye-wateringly expensive rosé wine from the estate after bringing in the Perrin family of Chateau Beaucastel to help in 2012.
However, reports appeared in June that Jolie was keen to sell the estate to further her involvement in British politics. Only tax-paying British residents can enter the House of Lords, something rumoured to be an ambition of Jolie’s. In April, US Weekly reported that the family “loves being in London” and Jolie “would pick it as their permanent home if she could”.
Santa Barbara
The pair kept a $5 million beach house in Santa Barbara for high-days and holidays. It was bought by Pitt in 2000 and sits on 11 acres of land next to the Gaviota State Park.
New Orleans
One of Pitt and Jolie’s jointly owned properties, the five-bedroom townhouse (with additional guesthouse) in the French Quarter of New Orleans has been on the market since 2015 – to so little avail that the asking price has been slashed from $6.5 million to $5.65 million.
New York
In 2007 the couple bought an apartment in Manhattan’s Waldorf Astoria Towers.
How will they split it?
Jolie’s divorce filing states that “there are community and quasi-community assets and obligations of the parties, the exact nature and extent to which are unknown to Petitioner [Jolie] at this time”, which means that it’s a mystery to the woman herself, let alone us.
While the Daily Mail reports that Jolie “is believed to be on the title of all the properties”, Pitt originally bought the Santa Barbara and Los Felix homes. Seeing as one of the major reasons Jolie cited for the divorce was the welfare of her children, she may decide to maintain normalcy by keeping them in the family home for as long as possible.
The film company
Plan B Entertainment was set up in 2001 by Pitt and his then-wife Aniston, along with Paramount Pictures boss Brad Grey. After Aniston and Pitt divorced in 2005, Grey moved to Paramount and Pitt became the company’s sole owner.
It’s since put out a number of successful films, including The Time Traveler’s Wife; Eat, Pray, Love; 12 Years a Slave; and Selma, as well as ones that have starred Pitt and Jolie – A Mighty Heart in 2007 and The Big Short eight years later. But Jolie has never been legally involved in the company.
How will they split it?
Pitt remains the sole owner, with no involvement from Jolie.
The rosé
After hearing news of the divorce on Tuesday the wine industry were fretting about the future of Miraval rose, the fancy wine made on their French estate that boasted a “delicate structure” and a “lovely floral nose”. The first 2012 vintage sold out within hours and there were plans to create a “super Provence” red from the vineyards.
How will they split it?
Insiders claim that Pitt was more involved with the grapes than Jolie, but there are few details beyond that – or what will happen if, as Jolie reportedly mooted, the estate could be up for sale anyway.
The Jolie-Pitt Foundation
Shortly after they made their relationship public in 2006, Pitt and Jolie founded the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation, named after their eldest adopted son, to aid humanitarian crises around the world. They launched it by donating $1 million a piece to Doctors Without Borders and Global Action for Children, and have continued to donate to charitable causes since.
Most recently, the foundation’s namesake accompanied his mother to Cambodia to help research her forthcoming Netflix film about the country in the 1970s rule of Khmer Rouge. The pair also visited some of the foundation’s programmes, which help local families overcome the problems associated with poverty. She told AP at the time: “Maddox is already involved in the foundation and will take over my role when he is older.”
How will they split it?
It’s not entirely clear, but Jolie does appear to have more invested in the foundation than Pitt. She has also stated her intentions for it to become Maddox’s responsibility in the future.
The dog
The family have been custodians of Jacques, a bulldog, since at least 2010. During an interview with Vogue, Jolie said that he lived in their house in France, but has been spotted on the other side of the Pond – famously, attached to Johnny Depp’s leg.
How will they split it?
It’s just too sad to even contemplate.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt: their relationship in pictures
