Brad Pitt has been granted joint custody of his children with ex-wife Angelina Jolie.

The tentative ruling comes after a long set of legal proceedings in California regarding the custody of their five underage children.

The Hollywood stars are parents to Pax, 17, Zahara, 16, Shiloh, 14, and 12-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox, but their oldest child Maddox, 19, is not subject to the custody decision.

PA news agency reported that they hired a private judge whose ruling was based on testimony, including from professionals who had spoken with the children.

It will “significantly increase” the amount of time Pitt can spend with the children, a source was quoted as saying.

According to US outlet Page Six, Jolie did not object to the ruling but there were “other issues of concern”.

She had criticised the judge for not allowing the children to testify and had tried to have him disqualified from the case, accusing him of having professional relationships with members of her ex-husband’s team.

The two actors met on the set of the film Mr & Mrs Smith in 2005. They married in 2014 but Jolie filed for divorce two years later.

The divorce was finalised in April 2019.

Pitt had been accused of being abusive towards Maddox, then 15, but an investigation did not result in any charges.

Jolie told Vogue last year that she had left the marriage for the wellbeing of her family, describing her children as “very brave, very strong young people”.

In 2017 Pitt told GQ about how he stopped drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana, saying: “For me every misstep has been a step toward epiphany, understanding, some kind of joy.

“Yeah, the avoidance of pain is a real mistake. It’s the real missing out on life.”