NBA legend Allen Iverson has been involved in an ongoing, acrimonious divorce. The couple was married in 2001, and together they have five children. Iverson’s wife filed for divorce in 2011, but they had yet to agree on a financial settlement. Their divorce case was set to go to court in just a few days, but they have finally been able to come to a divorce settlement, which has now been presented to a judge for incorporation into the divorce decree.
According to reports, Iverson has agreed to give his ex-wife $3 million in a lump-sum payment, along with certain existing assets and a percentage of his future Reebok endorsement proceeds. These amounts are in addition to the child support he will required to pay for the couple’s five children. Iverson will get to keep the couple’s marital home. However, that home reportedly is currently in foreclosure.
In light of their difficult marriage and divorce, which included accusations of infidelity, harassment and hidden assets, there is now some hope that once the divorce settlement is approved Iverson and his ex-wife will be able to move on with their lives and co-parent more successfully.
In that regard, it is can often be helpful in high-asset divorces to handle property division and/or alimony as a lump sum because ongoing financial ties can sometimes serve to drag out the acrimony of the dissolution. It is less likely for disputes to arise with lump-sum payments than with ongoing payments which, at times, result in complaints about lateness or insufficiency.
In this case, however, there is still the potential for controversy surrounding the future proceeds from Iverson’s Reebok endorsement. Considering that there had been accusations of assets being hidden during the Iverson’s marriage and the divorce proceedings, the couple’s attorneys would be wise to set up a very transparent arrangement for their accounting and distribution.
Source: TMZ.com, “Allen Iverson Coughs UP $3 MILLION in Nasty Divorce Battle,” Jan. 20, 2013
