NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France has had more than his share of divorce drama. After marrying and divorcing his ex-wife, Megan, twice between 2001 and 2008, the case was reopened when Megan claimed that Brian was not following what was agreed to in their 2008 separation agreement.
The separation agreement ordered Brian to pay his ex a lump sum of $9 million in addition to $32,000 per month in alimony for ten years and $10,000 per month in child support. Megan claimed that Brian had failed to make a $3 million installment payment on the $9 million sum and had been late in paying alimony.
In response, Brian argued that he was no longer obligated to follow the 2008 separation agreement because Megan had breached a confidentiality clause within the contract. Confidentiality was paramount to the NASCAR head, and until May, the entire divorce file had been sealed by a family court judge.
It wasn’t until local news affiliates successfully challenged the seal in court that the details of the divorce were released.
Perhaps in effort to preserve what privacy remained, Brian and Megan were able to reach a confidential out of court settlement in the most recent dispute last month, their lawyers reported.
When privacy is an important factor to a divorcing couple, they often choose to end their marriage through an out of court settlement process such as mediation. When a settlement is reached in mediation, the details are kept out of the public record, which isn’t true if the case is litigated in court.
Source: Charlotte Observer, “Brian and Megan France settle lengthy court fight,” Ames Alexander, Oct. 8, 2013
