Judge says Jolie’s children can take Pitt’s name

updated 1:35 p.m. ET Jan. 19, 2006

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - A judge granted a request Thursday by Angelina Jolie to change the names of her two children to reflect that Brad Pitt intends to become their adoptive father.

“The court granted the name change,” lawyer Evan Spiegel, who represents Jolie, told reporters outside court. He did not take questions.

Neither Jolie nor Pitt, who co-starred in the film “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” attended the hearing.

The names of the children will become Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt and Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt. Zahara celebrated her first birthday on Jan. 8. Maddox, a boy, is 4.

Superior Court Judge Linda Lefkowitz approved the motion during a closed hearing about a month after lawyers for the 30-year-old actress filed the paperwork.

Pitt’s publicist, Cindy Guagenti, said on Jan. 11 that Jolie is pregnant with Pitt’s child.

The 42-year-old actor accompanied Jolie when she went to Ethiopia in July to adopt Zahara.

In 2002, Jolie adopted Maddox in Cambodia where she filmed “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.”

Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were divorced last October after 4 1/2 years of marriage.

He has denied Jolie was behind the split, and for months the couple did not publicly acknowledge their relationship despite increasingly frequent sightings together.

Jolie, who won an Oscar for her supporting role in 1999’s “Girl, Interrupted,” is divorced from Billy Bob Thornton and Jonny Lee Miller.

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