According to People, Angelina Jolie decided to part ways with her divorce attorney Laura Wasser. The exclusive story by People notes that Jolie is “focused on healing her family” and wants to transition to a new counsel for her ongoing divorce with her ex-spouse, Brad Pitt.
Angelina Jolie and divorce attorney Laura Wasser have gone their separate ways, PEOPLE exclusively confirms, as the Oscar winner — who a source says “remains focused on healing her family” — transitions to new counsel in her ongoing divorce with Brad Pitt.
“Angelina has decided to change counsel to Samantha Bley Dejean, as Samantha’s expertise is the protection and best interest of children,” Mindy Nyby, a spokesperson for the 43-year-old mother of six, tells PEOPLE. “Angelina appreciates Laura’s cooperation in transitioning the case over the past several weeks.”
The reason behind the attorney change can be interpreted as dubious to some insiders, especially since Jolie and Pitt are in the midst of a contentious legal battle for child custody. It has been widely reported that Jolie is frustrated with her former spouse for not making consistent child support payments. On the other hand, Pitt is also furious that Jolie is keeping their children away from them.
In fact, there are reports that Jolie has been warned by the court to allow her children to see Pitt or forfeit primary custody. A People insider explained why the former Hollywood couple’s child custody battle is only worsening with time.
“Their parenting approach was always very different,” a source tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “Since their separation, it’s been obvious that they weren’t going to figure things out on their own when it comes to the kids.”
“For so long, Brad didn’t spend any regular time with the kids,” the insider says. “He had very little contact with them. The kids were mostly with Angie, so they are of course very attached to her. It’s frustrating for Brad. He wants to spend as much time with his kids as possible.”
Evidently, the situation plummeted to disaster since Jolie and Pitt could never come to an agreement about child custody and visitation. Consequently, a judge had to intervene and create a schedule for Pitt to spend time with his children.
Jolie’s dismissal of her longtime lawyer is again showing that her divorce from Pitt is becoming public and volatile with each passing day. Jolie and Wasser reportedly had a strained relationship stemming from the latter’s handling of Jolie’s divorce.
With no clear end in sight, it’s extremely likely that the court will have to intervene in Pitt and Jolie’s divorce. After Jolie’s claims that Pitt isn’t paying child support, and since the 54-year-old actor isn’t seeing his children regularly, it’s likely that the former couple’s divorce will continue to worsen until a mutual decision has been reached about custody.
It can be reasonably inferred that Jolie is trying to utilize another legal approach to child custody with the addition of her new attorney.
