Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Reach Divorce Settlement After More Than 8 Years of Intense Legal Fighting (Exclusive)

Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt on Sept. 19, 2016, after two years of marriage and 12 years together.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have reached a settlement in their divorce eight years after the Maria star filed to end their two-year marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

Jolie, 49, and Pitt, 61, signed off on their divorce on Monday, Dec. 30, according to Jolie’s lawyers.

“More than eight years ago, Angelina filed for divorce from Mr. Pitt. She and the children left all of the properties they had shared with Mr. Pitt, and since that time she has focused on finding peace and healing for their family,” Jolie’s lawyer James Simon tells PEOPLE in a statement.

“This is just one part of a long ongoing process that started eight years ago. Frankly, Angelina is exhausted, but she is relieved this one part is over.”

A source close to Jolie adds, “She doesn’t speak ill of [Pitt] publicly or privately. She’s been trying hard to be light after a dark time.”

A rep for Pitt declined to confirm or comment.

Jolie filed for dissolution of marriage on Sept. 19, 2016, days after a private plane flight on which she has claimed Pitt was abusive to her and their six children; he was not charged by authorities after investigations at the time and Jolie declined to press charges.

Since the filing “neither Jolie nor any of the children have ever stepped foot back in Miraval, which was their home until then,” Jolie’s lawyers have stated.

Four months later, the former couple released a joint statement indicating that they reached an agreement to handle their divorce in a private forum, and would keep future details of their divorce confidential by utilizing a private judge.

“The parties and their counsel have signed agreements to preserve the privacy rights of their children and family by keeping all court documents confidential and engaging a private judge to make any necessary legal decisions and to facilitate the expeditious resolution of any remaining issues,” according to the statement.

It concluded, “The parents are committed to act as a united front to effectuate recovery and reunification.”

Leading up to the 2017 privacy agreement, Pitt and Jolie had been locked in “strained” divorce negotiations centered on custody issues and trading harsh accusations in filings in Los Angeles Superior Court.

In January 2017, they agreed to seal sensitive records relating to their six children, the majority of whom are now adults: Maddox, 23, Pax, 21, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and twins Vivienne and Knox, now 16.

The exes, who had their divorce bifurcated, were declared legally single in 2019. (Pitt has been dating L.A. jewelry exec Ines de Ramon, 34, since 2022.)

In the following years, the former couple battled over custody as well as legal issues pertaining to the $164 million French estate and winery that they shared, Château Miraval.

Pitt sued Jolie in February 2022 over her sale of her Château Miraval stake, and the Tomb Raider star filed a countersuit in which she stated her ex was “waging a vindictive war against” her.

The lawsuit was filed by Nouvel, a business founded by Jolie. The company claimed that Pitt “masterminded a so-far-successful plan to seize control” of Château Miraval following the couple’s split in 2016.

Of the countersuit, a source close to Pitt told PEOPLE, “This is just the latest in a series of deliberate efforts to misdirect, recycle and reposition the truth of what has happened over the last six years, thinking that reasonable people would be duped by these obvious misrepresentations.”

In a case management statement, Jolie called Pitt’s legal actions “frivolous, malicious and part of a problematic pattern.”

The actress is holding firm that she and Pitt did not have “a secret, unwritten, unspoken contract” that required them to ask for consent before selling their shares of Château Miraval.

The pair have continued to fight over Miraval throughout 2024, which is not connected to their divorce proceedings.

In November, Jolie scored a legal win when a judge in the case ruled that Pitt must disclose documents, including emails and texts, that Jolie’s lawyer Paul Murphy claims will prove her allegations of abuse against Pitt and “years of cover-up” on his part.

The same month, Pitt also notched his own victory in the winery battle when Jolie’s motions to dismiss the lawsuit were rejected and the case inched closer to trial with potential proof that there was a written agreement between the former couple about selling, which a Pitt source said “demonstrates the legitimacy of his claims.”

His lawyers have called Jolie’s request for the documents “a sensationalist fishing expedition.”