In a control apparatus for an automatic transmission, a return control is executed to engage a clutch that has had its engagement pressure lowered and to disengage a brake so as to resume the state of the automatic transmission from the neutral state under a neutral control to the one where the forward speed is established. As the time for the neutral control becomes longer, the decrease in the torque of an output shaft of the automatic transmission becomes gentler. Accordingly an initial value of a control command value for the clutch pressure is decreased with the increase in the neutral control time such that the engagement of the clutch becomes gentler.