Frank McCourt’s wife seeks nearly $1 million per month from Dodgers owner

Frank McCourt’ wife seeks nearly $1M per month

LOS ANGELES — Relaxing at five-star hotels. Jet-setting around the world. Eating at top restaurants.

While most people can’t comprehend or even dream about that kind of opulence, former Dodgers CEO Jamie McCourt says she wants her first-class lifestyle back and believes it will take nearly $1 million a month to do so.

Whether her estranged husband, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, will have to pay temporary spousal support could be determined at a hearing Monday in Los Angeles. Both Jamie McCourt and Frank McCourt are expected to attend.

The couple is embroiled in a costly divorce dispute with the Dodgers possibly hanging in the balance. Jamie McCourt maintains she is the team’s co-owner, while her husband argues a marital agreement between the two gives him sole possession of the Dodgers.

A trial on that issue was tentatively set for May 24 but a new date may be set on Monday.

In court papers, Jamie McCourt has said she is running out of money since she was fired in October as the team’s CEO where she drew a $2 million salary.

She estimated she has about $4 million in savings and roughly $450,000 in cash that will quickly run out due to monthly mortgage payments of about $415,000 on the couple’s homes and vacation properties. She believes she shouldn’t have to “invade” her savings to pay for her living expenses.

“I request spousal support in an amount to insure that I can continue to live at the same marital standard of living that we enjoyed during our marriage,” she said during a deposition.

She also cites a long list of other expenses she and her husband had during their marriage such as trips to Paris and Vietnam, country club memberships and dining at expensive restaurants. She said she enjoys wearing designer clothing and has a hair stylist and makeup artist.

She has said in her court documents that the couple’s worth is more than $1.2 billion.

During a deposition earlier this month if there was any amount of money he should give to support his wife of 30 years, Frank McCourt said no and explained why.

“Because I think she has ample resources to take care of herself, which I’m — I’m very happy about that fact,” he said.

He was referring to the couple’s seven homes that are worth an estimated $65 million and belong to her as outlined in the martial agreement. His attorneys have argued that she could rent the properties or sell them.

Frank McCourt also said he doesn’t draw a salary from the Dodgers and estimates he will earn about $5 million this year from one of his businesses.

Jamie McCourt’s attorneys have said Frank McCourt has at least $18 million available. They also hammered him during his deposition about his spending habits that they contend haven’t decreased even though he has said he was hit hard by the recession.

Frank McCourt said he did attend this year’s Super Bowl and spent between $70,000 and $80,000 on a trip to the Caribbean.

By his own admission, he said things began to spiral downward once the couple moved from Massachusetts to California after purchasing the Dodgers in 2004.

“I think it was a very — very comfortable, very nice and very family oriented and we had a lot of nice things,” Frank McCourt said in court documents. “I think it became an out of — out-of-control, unsustainable and very uncomfortable lifestyle.”

Jamie McCourt filed for divorce in October, citing irreconcilable differences. The McCourts have been married since 1979 and have four grown sons.

She already lost her initial bid to be reinstated as the team’s chief executive. But Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon hasn’t decided whether the Dodgers are considered community or separate property. If he rules the team is community property, Jamie McCourt could argue again that she should get her job back.