Brad Pitt's concerns for his kids amid custody battle with Angelina Jolie

Brad Pitt reportedly believes a custody trial against Angelina Jolie will be “unnecessarily damaging” for his children.

The Moneyball actor and his estranged wife are expected to spend two to three weeks in court from 4 December in front of a private judge, but the 54-year-old actor would rather they resolved their issues before then and spared their six children – Maddox, 17, Pax, 14, Zahara, 13, Shiloh, 12, and 10-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne – the ordeal.

Insiders told The Blast that the World War Z star thinks Angelina is being “irresponsible” with the trial and feels they have been embarrassed enough since their separation, pointing out the children are all old enough to read the news and listen to gossip about their famous parents.

Brad is said to be worried Angelina just wants to make him look bad in her bid for sole custody, while he can see no reason for them to not split care of the children equally.

The couple split in September 2016 when the Maleficent actress accused Brad of being abusive towards Maddox on a private plane, and insiders believe the 43-year-old star plans to use the incident as grounds for her receiving full custody.

Brad and legal team not worried

However, Brad and his legal team are not worried because he was never charged with any offence and the upcoming trial is not a criminal matter.

Evaluations for the children have already begun, and the judge will rely heavily on their findings in his ruling over custody.

Financial disputes will be resolved separately.

Timeline of Ange and Brad’s custody battle

The former couple began custody evaluations last month, and in August, they reached an “interim” arrangement over the care of their kids, just weeks after the Salt actress accused Brad of not paying any “meaningful” child support since she filed for divorce.

But days later, the Fight Club star argued he had “loaned” his estranged wife $8 million to help her purchase her current house and contributed over $1.3 million “in bills for the benefit of [Jolie] and the minor children.”

His lawyer Lance Spiegel added that Brad “adamantly disputes the contention that he has not paid child support.”

Earlier this year, Angelina was ordered by a judge to allow her children to spend more time with their father, or risk losing custody.

The judge told her: “If the minor children remain closed down to their father and depending on the circumstances surrounding this condition, it may result in a reduction of the time they spend with [Jolie] and may result in the Court ordering primary physical custody to [Pitt].”

With reporting by Bang Showbiz.

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