After more than two years of back and forth in family court, Frank and Jamie McCourt have reportedly reached a settlement agreement regarding their property division and the ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. The deal will not be final until it is signed by the presiding family court judge and accepted by the bankruptcy court overseeing the Dodgers’ bankruptcy, but it is a promising step in this high-asset divorce, considering the long history of disputed claims and court battles between the spouses.
According to an anonymous source, Jamie McCourt has agreed to give up her ownership rights to the Dodgers in exchange for about $130 million. Last year, Frank McCourt attempted to challenge Jamie’s right to ownership, claiming that a postnuptial agreement awarded him the team in the event of a divorce. After it was learned that the attorney who prepared the postnup had created two different versions of the document, the judge threw it out entirely and ruled that the spouses owned the team jointly.
In the settlement, Jamie also reportedly agreed to withdraw her opposition to the proposed sale of the Dodgers’ television broadcast rights. In fact, she will file a motion in support of the sale. The final decision will be up to a bankruptcy court judge.
In June, the McCourts reached a similar settlement agreement, with Jamie receiving a proposed $100 million in exchange for Dodgers’ ownership rights. That deal ultimately failed when Frank filed for bankruptcy on behalf of the team after Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig rejected Frank’s proposed broadcast contract between the Dodgers and Fox, worth an estimated $3 billion.
Hopefully, the current settlement will have no such roadblocks and will be approved by the judge, allowing both McCourts to move on with their careers and lives.
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “McCourts OK divorce deal, he gets Dodgers,” Greg Risling, Oct. 17, 2011