In the last blog I described the California divorce issues in the McCourt divorce of business valuation (how much are the LA Dodgers worth?), Post Marital agreements, and spousal support. For a short recap--Jamie and Frank McCourt own the Dodgers (only Frank owns according to him), they've been married for 30 years and are now going through a divorce (most expensive in California divorce history, according to some). Much of the information gained for this blog was from an article in Business Week written by Richard Siklos.
San Diego Certified Family Law Specialist attorneys use forensic witnesses to help determine the value and cash flow of a business. The bigger the business, the more income generated by a business, the more variables that will exist. However the principals are the same whether the business is a ML baseball team or a mom and pop grocery store. There are just going to be more zeros in the Dodger evaluation. Reportedly, the McCourts have withdrawn $100 million from the Dodgers since 2004. Since 2004 the McCourts bought homes for $20 million, $27 million, $6.5 million and $19 million. Land for 4.6 million. And the list of personal expenses goes on and on. (For example, a hair stylist in Beverly Hills was reportedly paid $150,000 a year to be available to come to the McCourt home per their hair styling needs.)
Frank will argue that the extravagant spending indicates that the parties were living over their means. This is California divorce talk for "I can't continue to pay Jamie over $600,000 a month in spousal support. She should realistically receive $200,000 per month." Jamie will argue that the spending illustrates their extreme wealth standard of living. This is California divorce talk for "Frank should be paying me $1 million a month in spousal support."
The forensic witnesses will testify to the judge in the upcoming trial as to the income available to Frank by virtue of his ownership of the LA Dodgers. The business books and income variables are extensive. There would be no surprise in the forensic witness costs running well over $1 million.
How many millions will the McCourts spend on this divorce before they start looking for resolution? Sooner or later this will occur. Frank and Jamie are too smart to take every issue to trial. Frank is in a difficult position. If he proves the Dodgers belong to him, he then receives 100 per cent of the income and he then pays Jamie a higher amount for spousal support. The San Diego divorce lawyers at the Law Office of Thomas M. Huguenor handle high income divorce cases. We use forensic witnesses so that a big picture resolution will come into view.
