Judge rules against former Dodgers’ CEO Jamie McCourt

New York residents may be interested in the recent ruling in Jamie McCourt’s bid to have her divorce settlement with her ex-husband thrown out. On Sept. 9, a California judge ruled against Ms. McCourt and said that her claims were “not credible.” Ms. McCourt and her ex-husband, Frank McCourt, divorced in 2012, and Ms. McCourt received $131 million as part of the division of assets.

Five months after the divorce was finalized, Frank McCourt sold the Los Angeles Dodgers to Guggenheim Baseball Management for $2.15 billion. The sale was the highest amount ever paid for a baseball team. He netted a profit of $1.278 billion from the sale after paying $460 million in taxes and $412 million in debt payments assumed by Guggenheim.

Guggenheim also agreed to invest as much as $650 million in McCourt’s real estate development fund. They additionally agreed to pay the former owner $5.5 million annually in management fees, $7 million per year in parking lot rent and gave him the option to sell his ownership in the stadium’s parking lots for $150 million. In her court filings, Jamie McCourt claimed that she did not know the potential sale value of the Dodgers when she agreed to the settlement. She asked the court to throw out the settlement, and the court rejected her request.

Divorce settlement negotiations are always complex but can be even more complicated when high-value business assets are involved. Business valuation can be difficult, especially when the business is privately held. An attorney with divorce settlement experience could help an individual evaluate the assets in question and negotiate a fair and full settlement.

Source: Los Angeles Times, “Jamie McCourt loses bid to throw out Dodgers divorce deal“, Bill Shaikin, September 09, 2013