As baseball fans out there likely know, we are entering into spring training season. This time of year can be a great time for MLB teams to get a fresh start. It appears that the owner of an MLB team here in Texas may be experiencing a fresh start of his own, as his divorce was recently finalized.
The owner in question is Jim Crane, who owns the Houston Astros. Crane and his now ex-wife had been married for 21 years.
The financial settlement in Crane’s divorce reportedly is a very big one. According to the Houston Chronicle, one of the things the settlement includes is a $30 million payment that Crane will make to his ex-wife over the course of five years.
One thing that the divorce and the settlement will not impact, according to a legal representative of the team, is the Astros. Reportedly, the settlement did not grant Crane’s ex-wife any ownership interest in the Astros and the settlement’s terms are not expected to have financial impacts on the team.
When a business owner goes into a divorce, one thing it can be very important for them to think about is their business. Divorces can have the potential to have effects on a business. For example, if a business is deemed to be a marital asset, what happens in a divorce in regards to property division could end up impacting who ends up with ownership of the business. Also, the terms of a divorce settlement can sometimes affect what sort of financial resources a business owner will have to support their business.
Thus, when a person who is getting a divorce owns a business, they may want to talk with a family law attorney about what sorts of steps they could take to try to protect their business from being negatively affected by the divorce.
Source: Houston Chronicle, “Jim Crane’s divorce finalized; financial settlement said to have ‘no effect’ on Astros,” Evan Drellich, Feb. 13, 2015