Brad Pitt fighting Angelina Jolie in the courts over custody of six children

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Brad Pitt is seeking joint custody of his six children in his divorce from Angelina Jolie Pitt.

The actor's request is included in his response filed on Friday to his estranged wife's petition to end their two-year marriage. Angelina Jolie sought sole physical custody of their six children, who range in ages from 8 to 15.

Jolie filed for divorce in September, citing irreconcilable differences. Hollywood’s golden couple, who have six children together, started dating over a decade ago and married in 2014.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, documents filed with the Land Records Division of the Orleans Parish Civil Clerk of Court's office show the property sold for $4.9 million (£4 million).

Pitt and Jolie purchased the home for $3.5 million (£2.8 million) in 2007 after Hurricane Katrina. The couple, who helped raise awareness of New Orleans devastation after the hurricane, bought the property after Pitt established the Make It Right Foundation to boost the development of new housing in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward neighbourhood.

The property is said to include Venetian plastered walls, custom-designed marble mantles & fireplaces, crown mouldings and an opulent spiral staircase.

The listing agent Nina Killeen confirmed the property has been sold, saying it had gone for a “very fair price”.

The actors first met when they played married spies in Mr And Mrs Smith. They wed in a private, intimate ceremony attended by close family and friends at Château Miraval in the south of France, the wine estate that the couple purchased for $60 (£49 million) in 2008.

The filing was first reported Friday by the celebrity website TMZ.