Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s Daughter Shiloh Made Decision to Change Last Name After ‘Painful Events’

Angelina Jolie; Shiloh; Brad Pitt. Photo:

Bruce Glikas/Getty; JC Olivera/Getty; BENJAMIN CREMEL/AFP via Getty

An attorney for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's daughter Shiloh is speaking out about her decision to drop "Pitt" from her last name.

She filed for the name change on May 27 — her 18th birthday — and it was publicly announced with a legal notice in the Los Angeles Times shortly after. In a new statement, Shiloh’s attorney, Peter Levine, spoke of her “significant decision” — and why she approached it the way that she did.

“The media should be more careful in their reporting,” Levine said, “especially when covering a young adult who has made an independent and significant decision following painful events, and is merely following legal process.”

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Explaining this process further, he said, “Shiloh Jolie did not take out an ‘ad’ announcing any name change, and any press reporting that is inaccurate. As Shiloh’s attorney, I am required to publish a legal notice because the law in California requires that of anyone who wants to change their name. That legal notice was published in the Los Angeles Times, as is required.”

Levine's statement echoes comments a legal expert recently made to PEOPLE, saying that the public name change announcement in a newspaper “could not have been avoided” for the official name-change process to move forward.

“She has to file a formal petition with the court to change her name,” California-based family law attorney David Glass told PEOPLE. “And she has to run an ad 4 weeks in a row before the hearing is scheduled, in addition to giving both of her parents written notification.”

“These name change petitions usually run very smoothly and are granted, unless the person has a criminal history and is trying to get away from punishment or liabilities," he said, noting that he has “never seen one opposed in court.”

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Added Glass: “Brad could come to court and say, for example, that Shiloh has been alienated against him by the mother. … But because she is no longer a minor, she can essentially call herself whatever she wants.”

Shiloh’s name change petition comes after a source close to the family told PEOPLE in July that Pitt, 60, has "virtually no contact" with his adult children, but still has visitation with his younger kids, following his split from Jolie, 49, in 2016. The ex-couple share six kids: Shiloh, Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 16. 

"He has virtually no contact with the adult kids. His engagement with the younger kids is more limited in recent months because of his filming schedule," the insider told PEOPLE, noting that Jolie “has the kids most of the time, but per their agreement, he has visitation with the younger kids.”

After Shiloh’s initial filing, a source told PEOPLE in June that Pitt is "aware and upset" about the change.

"The reminders that he’s lost his children, is of course not easy for Brad. He loves his children and misses them. It’s very sad,” the source said, adding that while the actor is happy with his partner Ines de Ramon the distance from his children "pains him.”

A separate source close to Pitt told PEOPLE at the time that, “He still loves all of his kids tremendously,” adding, “This whole process has been very hard for the whole family."