Over the past few months, many news stories have been devoted to the acrimonious divorce between Frank McCourt, owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and his former wife Jamie McCourt. The reason? A contested postnuptial agreement coupled with the possible division of a major league baseball franchise makes for compelling reading. In fact, the couple recently made headlines yet again for their failure to accept a property settlement agreement via the divorce mediation process.
The McCourts, who were married for 31 years, officially divorced on October 26. Shortly before the divorce was finalized, however, the former couple headed to a California court, where the validity of a postnuptial agreement the couple executed in 2004 was challenged.
Specifically, Frank McCourt claimed the postnuptial agreement made him the sole owner of the Dodgers, a divisional foe of the Colorado Rockies. Jamie McCourt, on the other hand, claimed that the postnuptial agreement was unenforceable because she wasn't fully advised as to the legal effect of its terms and asserted that she remains a co-owner of the Dodgers.
A final ruling on the validity of the postnuptial agreement is expected by the end of this month.
In the meantime, the deadline for a property settlement proposed by a third party mediator expired without mutual acceptance by the McCourts. As a result, the mediator, a California superior court judge, declared settlement discussions between the couple to be deadlocked.
According to Frank McCourt's attorney, Marc Seltzer, his client had accepted the terms of the property settlement.
"Frank fully supported the mediation process in the hope that it would result in an agreement that would bring long-awaited closure to this matter," said Seltzer. "We can only conclude that Jaime rejected Judge Lichtman's settlement proposal and is allowing this matter to drag on further."
Jaime McCourt's attorney declined comment.
Stay tuned for further developments from our Denver divorce blog ...
If you would like to learn more about divorce or divorce mediation, you should strongly consider speaking with an experienced legal professional.
This post is provided for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.
Related Resources:
L.A. Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt Says Divorce Settlement Mediation Failed (Bloomberg Businessweek)
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