Donald Sterling and his wife of 50 years, Shelly Sterling are divorcing after 50 years of marriage. Donald Sterling is known as the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers and recently got into hot water after his mistress recorded him saying racist comments about African Americans. Now, the NBA has taken administrative action against Sterling in hopes of correcting the problem.
In the midst of the NBA scandal, Mrs. Sterling has developed an interest in collecting the Clippers. She has already signed divorce papers but has not filed them because they could be a key piece of leverage in the fight against the NBA. Sterling says he would like his wife to keep her half of the team if he is not able to keep his half.
Mrs. Sterling may have a legal claim to the team because the Clippers are technically owned by the Sterling Family Trust. The California state laws which govern the trust offer Mrs. Sterling 50% ownership in the team and the divorce settlement could move full ownership to Mrs. Sterling. The NBA will then need to decide whether or not they plan to vote her out. It could be argued that the ex-husband's and ex-owner's violation of the NBA constitution would not apply to Shelly,
Recently an NBA spokesperson said that under the NBA constitution if a controlling owner's interest Is terminated by a three-quarter vote then all other team owner's interests are automatically terminated. Allegedly it doesn't matter whether the owners are related. The spokesperson says that every owner of an NBA team agrees to this rule as a condition of owning their team. If you want more information about the Donald Sterling divorce, or if you are currently dealing with a complicated property division matter and want assistance, call a San Fernando divorce attorney at the firm today!
