On Tuesday, an estate planning attorney who drafted a marital agreement for the McCourts’, owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, testified in the midst of their heated divorce battle. According to reports, the agreement provides for sole ownership of the Dodgers to go to Frank McCourt while Jamie McCourt contends that the document should be thrown out and the assets split evenly under the community property laws of California.
The divorce proceedings continue to fall mostly into the “he said - she said” contentiousness that often accompanies messy divorces. What seems to be clear is that at one time Frank trusted Jamie enough to give her the CEO position in the Dodgers organization, only to later ask her to step down because he no longer seemed to believe that she could run the team.
While this type of battle is unique because of the high profile of the Dodger’s baseball team and the large net worth of the couple involved, the dispute is anything but unusual. It appears that the situation may have come up because while many assets were specifically mentioned in the document, it appears that the Dodgers organization was not, leaving some room for interpretation as what constituted a joint asset.
I hope that others take note of the situation here and make sure that they spell out any marital agreement that they develop in more specific terms to reduce confusion. As a Phillies fan though, I also hope that this aspect of the team continues to dominate the headlines as opposed to a miraculous run to contend for a wild-card playoff spot as we approach the fall classic.
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