Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Divorce: The Assets at Stake

The announcement of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s divorce has aroused an enormous amount of speculation into their affairs. Much of the speculation is focused on the exact cause of their “irreconcilable” differences, but a fair amount of it is focused on the division of their assets as well. After all, they have been one of Hollywood’s most powerful couples for more than a decade, meaning that there is much material for those who are interested in examining such topics.

Here are some examples of the assets at stake in the Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt divorce:

Net Worth

Combined, Pitt and Jolie are estimated to be worth at least $400 million. However, the most relevant portion is their earnings since the start of their marriage in 2014, which is about $117.5 million. Most of that sum was earned by Pitt, who had important roles in a number of successful films between 2014 and 2015. In contrast, Jolie spent most of that same period of time on other pursuits, though she had some notable commercial successes as well.

Regardless, this entire matter is complicated by reports claiming that Pitt and Jolie had signed a pre-nup, meaning that the split of their wealth will be based on the terms laid out in the contract rather than Californian law on such issues. Based on the purported terms of the pre-nup, the wealth that existed before the marriage will be returned to the one who brought it into the marriage, while the income earned during the marriage will be put in a trust for their children.

If the pre-nup lacked relevant terms, the rule in the state of California is a 50/50 split of the wealth that has been earned since the marriage based on the not unreasonable belief that most people contribute a fair amount to the success of their higher-earning spouses.

Alimony

Unsurprisingly, alimony is an issue that has been brought up in some of the coverage for this event. After all, it can see millions and millions of dollars being paid out as support in the most spectacular cases because it is based on the couple’s standard of living during the marriage rather than something other standard, meaning that it often provides lots and lots of material for speculation. However, such speculation is dead-on-arrival in this particular case, seeing as how it has been reported that Jolie will not be seeking alimony from Pitt even though she earned less during the relevant period of time.

Child Support

In contrast, it seems probable that Jolie will be seeking child support for the couple’s children, assuming that she manages to get the physical custody that she is asking for. Child support tends to be calculated using a formula, meaning that it should be possible to come up with a reasonable estimate once the issue has been settled as part of their divorce process.

Engagement Ring

The engagement ring that Pitt gave to Jolie received a fair amount of attention in its time because it was said to have been worth $250,000 on its own. Since there has been constant inflation since that time, it should be worth even more now. In most states, an engagement ring is returned to the giver if the engagement is broken because it is seen as a promise of marriage. However, since Pitt and Jolie did get married, the engagement ring remains with Jolie even though their marriage fell through.

Real Estate Holdings

Pitt and Jolie own a number of different properties bought at different times that will become issues in the divorce process. For example, Pitt bought their primary residence for $1.7 million in 1994, which has seen a lot of renovations over time to become the five-bedroom house plus smaller structures that it is now. Some have speculated that Pitt will be holding onto this particular house for the simple reason that he has been living in it so much longer than the rest of the family.

Other examples range from a Malibu beach house that was bought for $8.4 million in 2005 to a Santa Barbara beach house that was bought for $4 million in 2000. Furthermore, there are other real estate properties that are known to have been owned by Pitt and Jolie at one point in time but have unknown statuses at the moment.

Winery

Finally, there is the winery, which promises to become an issue as well. In brief, Pitt and Jolie paid $60 million to buy a French estate called Chateau Miraval, which has been put to use making rosé, red, and white wines. Unlike a lot of similar businesses owned by other celebrities, their wine-making venture has been seeing excellent returns as well as building up an excellent reputation.

Something that can be seen in the fact that its rosé wine managed to make onto Wine Spectator’s list of top 100 wines of 2013, which was particularly notable because it was the sole wine of its kind to make it onto the list. It is possible that Chateau Miraval will be sold as part of the divorce process. However, it is also possible that one of the two will buy out the other’s stake, which is plausible because Pitt is said to be much more interested in the wine-making business than Jolie.

Conclusion

Of course, much of this speculation is based on nothing more than estimates, meaning that interested individuals should not count on them too much but maintain a sense of skepticism when it comes to the claims that will be flooding the media over the course of the next few months. It is possible that better information will come in as the divorce process continues, but it is also possible that the most interesting details will never be disclosed in full because of Pitt and Jolie’s rather understandable desire to protect the privacy of their family. Whatever the case, there is bound to be more than enough material to fascinate those who want to learn more about the latest happenings of this particular case.