Angelia Jolie and Brad Pitt’s Daughter Shiloh ‘Hired Her Own Lawyer’ to Drop Pitt from Her Last Name: Source

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter Shiloh took it upon herself to change her last name. 

A source close to the matter told PEOPLE the 18-year-old filed to drop Pitt from her surname, which would make her legal name Shiloh Jolie, and hired her own attorney for the process.

“Shiloh hired her own lawyer and paid for it herself,” the source said, pointing to Jolie’s allegations of an “abuse history” as part of the reason for the name change.

PEOPLE reached out to a representative for Pitt for comment.

Shiloh filed legal documents, obtained by PEOPLE, to drop Pitt from her last name on May 27, which was her 18th birthday.

In addition to Shiloh, Pitt, 60, and Jolie, 48, share five other children — Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Knox, 15, and Vivienne, 15.

Two of Shiloh’s siblings also appear to have removed Pitt from their last name. Vivienne is listed as “Vivienne Jolie” in the playbill for the Broadway show The Outsiders, which is produced by Jolie. Zahara, meanwhile, joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority at Spelman College in November, and introduced herself there as Zahara Marley Jolie.

Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt in 2016 and requested sole physical custody of their six children.

An insider told PEOPLE in August 2022 that their lack of connection has been “a sad situation for years,” referring to Pitt’s ongoing custody battle with Jolie. “Many times, there have been long gaps where he didn’t see the kids at all,” the source added of the Bullet Train star.

As the exes have fought over custody and their winery Chateau Miraval in court, Jolie has alleged Pitt was abusive to both her and the children, claims Pitt’s lawyers have called “misleading” and a “distraction.”

In a recent filing in their winery dispute, a former security guard for the couple, who still works for Pitt, claimed in legal documents obtained by PEOPLE that Jolie allegedly “encouraged” the children to “avoid spending time” with Pitt during visits.

In response, her attorney Paul Murphy said in a statement: “All Angelina has ever wanted was separation and health, with positive relationships between all members of their family, including Mr. Pitt.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Jolie has spoken candidly about the pair’s divorce in the past, including telling The Guardian in 2021 that she did not make the decision to divorce Pitt “lightly.” 

“It took a lot for me to be in a position where I felt I had to separate from the father of my children,” she said at the time, noting that “there’s a lot” she couldn’t say about the ongoing divorce settlement.