NEW YORK • Actress Angelina Jolie must provide her ex-husband, actor Brad Pitt (both above, in a 2015 photograph), with the phone numbers of their younger children so that he can send messages to them.

The order came from a judge who ruled that "not having a relationship with their father" would be "harmful" to Maddox, 16; Pax, 14; Zahara, 13; Shiloh, 12; and twins Knox and Vivienne, nine.

Jolie, 43, and Pitt, 54, separated in September 2016.

The court also came up with a schedule detailing when and for how long Pitt could spend time with the children this month - when they are in London - and next month in Los Angeles.

A source told US Weekly that "the kids have always been a priority for both parents and hopefully everyone will comply with the court order going forward. Brad will be wherever he needs to be for the kids".

Jolie has been an involved mother, riding a fearsome roller coaster called Nemesis Inferno when she took them to a theme park outside London to celebrate her birthday.

She has rented a house in the British capital where she is filming the Maleficent (2014) sequel with Elle Fanning.