(CNS) Updated Wednesday September 1, 2010 - 1:35pm
Testifying in a trial to determine if he is the sole owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Frank McCourt said today he and his now-estranged wife discussed their separate assets in 2004 before they signed a marital property agreement that is now at the heart of the dispute in their divorce case.
"We had discussions at home, in the car, in bed. We had discussions in the office,' he said under questioning by David Boies, one of Jamie McCourt's attorneys.
However, Frank McCourt said he did not talk with his wife about the disparity in their separate assets and whether that was fair to her.
At the time, his assets were estimated at more than $380 million and he said he believes hers were about $75 million, most of it generated from the family homes.
McCourt, 57, said he and his wife were not contemplating divorce at the time.
However, he said their lawyer in 2004, Lawrence Silverstein, explained to them how their separate property would be treated under both Massachusetts law, where they lived at the time, and in California.
McCourt also said he did not thoroughly examine an additional set of marital property agreement copies he signed in California in April 2004, which his lawyers say were meant to be identical to those the couple signed in Massachusetts the month before.
Unlike the Massachusetts copies, the California copies signed only by Frank McCourt stated he was excluding the Dodgers as his separate property.
His attorneys say the wording was a mistake.
"I signed it without reviewing it,' Frank McCourt said.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott M. Gordon is presiding over the non-jury trial to determine whether Frank McCourt is correct when he claims he is the sole owner of the Dodgers, or if Jamie McCourt's assertion that she has a stake in the team is valid.
Frank McCourt's attorneys maintain that as a trained lawyer, Jamie McCourt knew an agreement she signed with her estranged husband in 2004 stripped her of any ownership interest in the team.
The couple, who married in November 1979 and have four grown sons, separated on July 6, 2009.
Frank McCourt fired his 56-year-old wife as the Dodgers' chief executive officer a day after the team lost a playoff series to the Philadelphia Phillies.
She filed for divorce five days after her firing.
The divorce case has led to a perception among Dodger fans that the team is financially hamstrung in acquiring players.
Frank McCourt has consistently maintained that the divorce has no bearing on the operation of the team and its acquisition of players.
