Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt Request Extended Time to Settle Divorce and Custody Agreement

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt‘s divorce settlement is going to take a little longer than expected.

According to court documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight, the former couple, who filed for divorce in September of 2016, have requested an extension for the appointment of a private temporary judge, Honorable John Ouderkirk. A custody trial regarding the couple’s six children – Maddox, 17, Pax, 14, Zahara, 13, Shiloh, 12, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 10 – was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Dec. 4.

Jolie and Pitt had agreed earlier this year to have the retired Los Angeles Superior Court judge hear and determine all pre-trial issues, requests and motions in their case, as well as the trial itself.

Should Jolie and Pitt’s request be approved, Ouderkirk would be authorized to preside over their negotiations and custody hearings until Dec. 31, 2019. If it is denied, he will have until June 30, 2019, the previous approved date, to help the couple reach custody settlements. The extended time period would allow both parties to “work on reaching agreements before any formal judgement is rendered.”

News of the filing for a request of extension comes just days after The Blast reported that the couple was expected to complete negotiations and reach a custody settlement before their Dec. 4 trial was set to start.

The outlet reported that the supposed settlement would give Pitt, whom Jolie had reportedly fought to give minimal custody, a substantial amount of time to spend with their six children. It was also believed that the agreement was reached in an effort to spare their family further legal and public scrutiny as well as allow their legal teams more time to focus on the finances of their divorce, with the couple having millions of dollars in money and property.

Jolie and Pitt’s marriage came to a screeching halt in September of 2016 when the Maleficent actress filed for divorce after two years of marriage, citing “irreconcilable differences” in her filing. At the time, she also requested physical custody of their six children, which Pitt responded to by asking for joint legal and physical custody of the children in his filing the following November.

Since those initial court filings, the former couple has been locked in a tense custody battle, with it previously being reported that Jolie had been ordered by a judge to help the children repair and maintain their relationship with Pitt. The judge cited that “not having a relationship with their father is harmful to them.”