The teen’s attorney details the process behind the decision.
Back in May, Shiloh Jolie, daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, filed to change her last name, filing a petition on her 18th birthday. After many months and a postponement, the teen’s petition has been fulfilled and she officially goes by Shiloh Nouvel Jolie.
The news first broke with a legal notice published to the Los Angeles Times, which is required according to California law. Shiloh’s attorney, Peter Levine, spoke to why the situation was handled the way it was.
“Shiloh Jolie did not take out an ‘ad’ announcing any name change, and any press reporting that is inaccurate,” Levine said. “As Shiloh’s attorney, I am required to publish a legal notice because the law in California requires that of anyone who wants to change their name.”
Another California-based family attorney David Glass previously shared a sentiment with PEOPLE Magazine, noting that Shiloh had to run the legal notice four weeks in a row before the hearing was scheduled. He noted that name change petitions are usually granted unless a person has a criminal history.
Shiloh’s name change comes after Pitt has “virtually no contact” with his adult children, though he still has visitation with the younger kids, according to PEOPLE.
“He has virtually no contract with the adult kids. His engagement with the younger kids is more limited in recent months because of his filming schedule,” an insider close to the situation told PEOPLE.
When Shiloh’s filing became public, an insider noted that Pitt was aware and upset by it. According to the insider, the filing served as a reminder that Pitt has lost his children — a hard pill for the actor to swallow.
Pitt’s strained relationship with his children and now ex-wife stems from an alleged incident on a private jet. In 2022, Angelina alleged that a drunk Pitt assaulted and verbally abused both her and two of their children while on the plane in 206. The U.S. Attorney’s Office later declined to press charges.
Not only did Shiloh drop “Pitt” from her name, but her older sister also Zahara introduced herself as Zahara Marley Jolie at a sorority initiation ceremony at Spelman College. In the same month that Shiloh initially filed her petition, her sister Vivienne was credited as Vivienne Jolie in the playbill for the Broadway musical The Outsiders.
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