On Monday, I halfheartedly speculated on whether Frank would fight Jamie's request for money to cover her professional fees. Via Shaikin, that's exactly what happened Tuesday:
Jamie McCourt has asked the court to order Frank to pay almost $1 million per month in temporary support and $9 million in fees for attorneys and accountants. In today's filing, Frank McCourt calls those fee amounts unreasonably high.
Frank claims that Jamie has about $11 million in liquid assets in addition to six residential properties she could rent or sell, as they are rarely occupied.
Man, that's cold. And a little brilliant. Frank's putting Jamie between a rock and a hard place; If Jamie disposes of any of the residential real estate, she's implicitly acknowledging the validity of the post-nup. If she doesn't, and the court orders her to pay her own costs, her war chest starts to grow a little thin.
Logically, it doesn't make sense for the court to side entirely with Frank on this one. Jamie's authority to sell the residential real estate depends on the validity of the post-nup, which is very much in question. I just don't see the court tipping its hand on that issue at this point.
Now, if Jamie really does have a handful of cash (or other liquid assets), the court might reduce the amount Frank has to chip in for her lawyers and accountants. Heck, maybe the court will cut Jamie off entirely. But the most interesting thing to come out of this most recent spat is Frank's attempt to make Jamie follow the post-nup and sell off some of the homes. I doubt it gains much traction, but it's clever nonetheless.
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