Hello arrives here in a legal form: Zahara Marley Jolie-Pitt and Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt filed documents in April to remove Brad Pitt from their surnames. The change is still moving through the court process, with September appearances ahead after a public notice period in June and July.
Two numbers define the case. Zahara is 21 and Maddox is 24, and both completed the required newspaper publication step for four weeks before the court stage. For families following name changes, that sequence matters more than the headlines: filing, public notice, then a judge’s approval.
Zahara and Maddox in April
In April, the two children of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt started the legal process by filing documents to remove their father’s surname. Zahara later used Jolie during her graduation ceremony earlier this year, and Maddox used Jolie in his film credits. Those choices showed the names they already used in some settings before the formal filings moved forward.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have six children, so the filings affect two of them while the rest remain outside this specific legal step. Shiloh changed her surname to Jolie in 2024, which shows this is not a single isolated move but part of a broader pattern within the family’s public identity.
Hannah in California
Hannah, a California resident, gave a plain explanation for why a legal surname change can feel personal rather than procedural. "I've never felt like my last name reflected the love that encompasses my life," she said. "And I wanted to make sure that my name reflected that. My mother's love and also my husband's love are very abundant and so important to me."
She had been known by two surnames for more than a decade before legally changing her name to Leonard-Ripley last month. That mirrors the practical side of the Jolie-Pitt filings: public identity can shift in stages, but the legal record changes only after the required steps are finished.
September court appearances
The remaining step is court approval in September. A source close to Brad Pitt said he regretted how things had unfolded with his family, and that he was heartbroken but respected his children's decisions. Angelina Jolie said in 2020 that she had left Pitt for the "wellbeing" of her family, a reminder that the present filings sit inside a longer family history rather than a single week of publicity.
For readers tracking the name changes, the practical takeaway is simple: the public notice period is done, but the legal change is not final until the judge acts. If the court approves the requests in September, the children’s surnames will match the names they have already begun using in public.
