Vivienne Jolie-Pitt Files to Drop Dad's Last Name: The Legal Reason It Took a Newspaper Ad

Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, the 18-year-old daughter of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, has officially filed to change her name. She wants to be known as Vivienne Marcheline Jolie, a tribute to her late grandmother Marcheline Bertrand. The request cites personal reasons, and the paperwork was submitted back in July. Her court hearing is scheduled for November 2.

What might surprise folks is the legal process behind this. California law requires anyone changing their name to publish a public notice in a newspaper for four consecutive weeks. So Vivienne’s name change request ran in the Los Angeles Daily Journal from July 24 through August 14. That means for a full month, anyone reading that legal section could see her family business right there in black and white.

She’s not the first of the Jolie-Pitt kids to take this step. Her sister Shiloh dropped“Pitt”from her name on her 18th birthday, and siblings Zahara and Maddox have also filed to do the same. It’s a deeply personal family matter playing out in the public eye, and it’s hard not to think about how complicated family relationships can be, famous or not. What do you think about the legal requirement to publish a name change in the paper? Would that stop you from going through with it?