McCourts in Court - Update

UPDATE:  I knew I should have posted this sooner.  MLB rejected the tv deal today 6/20/11.    Bud Selig said it would benefit Frank personally too much.   This voids the settlement.  The War of the McCourts is back on.   Again, the lawyers should have planned for this obvious contingency.  

They are defintely going back to Court.    The McCourts have agreed to have a trial.   Umm, that is usually what happens when they can't agree.   An agreement usually avoids a trial.

Apparently, the McCourts are so hung up on who owns the Dodgers (not a lot of argument over anything else) that all they could agree to was to have a one day trial on whether or not the team is community property.   If it is community property, Frank can buy Jamie out.   If it is separate property, then Jamie gets $100 million and all the houses.   No word on what happens to the houses if the team is community property.

Of there are asterisks all over the place.   First of all, MLB must approve the settlement.   Considering Bud Selig is not happy with the McCourts right now, that is not a done deal.   MLB must also approve the Fox TV deal so that Frank has the money to buy out Jami if necessary (they got SIX houses, surely unloading a couple of those might help his finances).   See the previous sentence about Bud Selig's opinion of the McCourts.

Now most folks don't have a baseball team to argue over.   But, you would be amazed at what people will argue over in a divorce.   It's not about the object that is the point of contention.   It's about not letting the other person have it.   With a sports team, there is also the prestige of owning such a team.   A prestige that can be denied to the spouse.

However, the key to remember in any divorce is not so much what you get, but the end goal.   You want a divorce.   You want this person out of your life.   If you continue to fight, you still have to interact with the person.   Which can be the other person's motivation.   By refusing to engage, you get what you really want -- freedom -- and deny the other person their desire -- continued interaction.

This does not mean be a doormat.   But it does mean sometimes walking away rather than continuing to fight. Sometimes keeping the bigger picture in mind is the best strategy.

Someone tell the McCourts this (but not their expensive lawyers who don't even know how to hit print more than once).