For most individuals, receiving a property portfolio exceeding $100 million through a divorce settlement would typically conclude any financial disputes.
However, TV director Ernestine Rathborne finds herself returning to the courtroom in Massachusetts, two years after her split from property mogul Philip DeNormandie.
This legal battle centers around a $3.1 million parking lot situated in a historic Boston neighborhood, as disclosed by the Daily Mail.
Previously, the former couple reached a settlement, granting Rathborne, 75, properties valued at $105 million, as documented in court filings from last May.
Their separation has already seen extravagant financial settlements, allegations of concealed assets, and an opulent lifestyle that included an employee tasked with brushing their pets’ teeth.
Rathborne alleged in court documents that her ex-husband attempted to mislead her into believing their $221 million fortune was significantly less. However, his deception unraveled when financial investigators discovered a $500,000 receipt for wooden duck decoys, leading to further scrutiny that revealed their actual wealth.
Now, in the latest court filing, Rathborne, who directed episodes of cult TV hit Twin Peaks, said that DeNormandie, 78, has failed to hand over the documents necessary to make the parking lot her own.
The court papers said that DeNormandie had handed over all but one of the necessary papers required for the transfer.
Since her filing last year, DeNormandie and his lawyer filed several continuances in the case saying he and his ex-wife were in talks to figure out a solution.
Ernestine Rathborne is heading back to court for more legal wrangling in her high profile divorce
She claims her property magnate husband Philip DeNormandie has failed to hand over necessary documents to facilitate transfer of a parking lot
The filings indicate that a judge granted the two a divorce in February 2023 after six years of back and forth.
Less than two weeks later, the pair filed a joint motion to amend the divorce in which they lowered a lump sum payout to Rathborne from DeNormandie from $4.7 million to $1 million.
It was also agreed that DeNormandie would pay $550,000 to cover his ex-wife’s legal fees, while Rathborne was given the couple’s $7.5 million home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which had also been her childhood home.
DeNormandie, meanwhile, was awarded their private island, in Maine, worth $1.2 million and a parcel of land in Massachusetts worth $1.3 million.
They also agreed to end litigation between the two over another property which Rathborne owned.
But in March 2023, Rathborne went back to the courts alleging her ex-husband had not paid her the $1 million agreed, her legal fees or handed over a $2.6 million Antigua home she’d been awarded in the divorce.
The two then decided to allow the courts to appoint a special master to oversee their dispute as it continued to drag on, although all matters appeared to have been resolved before the parking lot dispute erupted last year.
It is not the first hiccup that has affected the legal proceedings, with Rathborne accusing DeNormandie in court documents of making her believe their combined wealth was just $90 million – when in actual fact it was $220 million.
Rathborne was handed a home worth $2.6 million in Antigua, seen here, in the divorce with her ex-husband
The lot, pictured here, is worth $3.1 million, according to court papers
Philip Y. DeNormandie, 75, amassed a large real estate empire and collection of decoy ducks
Foster Island, seen here, was given to DeNormandie in the divorce, court papers indicate it is worth $1.2 million
Rathborne was also given this $7.5 million house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was her childhood home
His alleged deception unraveled after she discovered a $532,000 receipt for a batch of wooden duck decoys and other art, which triggered a probe into his finances, court papers revealed.
DeNormandie hit back at his ex-wife, a Harvard-educated debutante, and described her as being a brilliant but spoiled woman when the two spoke with The Boston Globe separately in 2023 to air out their grievances about one another.
He also claimed in court papers that her extravagant lifestyle extended to one staffer being paid $80,000 per year to walk their dogs and brush the teeth of their animals.
The couple first met when they were both students at Harvard University in the 1970s and married in 1973 shortly after graduation.
‘We loved doing the same things,’ Rathborne told the outlet. ‘We loved hiking and sailing. He’s a nature boy. I loved walking in the woods with him.’
After buying a home in Boston, Rathborne relocated to New York and then Los Angeles for her film career.
Their relationship suffered and they first divorced in 1987.
‘We were standing in front of the judge sobbing,’ she said to the Boston Globe as she recalled how the judge asked if they were sure they wanted to end things, with DeNormandie responding: ‘It’s geography, your honor. It’s geography.’
The couple then reconciled and remarried and Rathborne raised the couple’s two sons as stay-at-home mother, saying she had been ‘fulfilled’ in her career.
The couple previously owned part of the historic Blackstone Block in Boston, which includes the city’s famed Union Oyster house
The couple owned luxury real estate enclave Lewis Wharf on the Boston Harbor waterfront, court papers said that it now belonged to Rathborne
One of the many decoy ducks in Philip Y. DeNormandie’s sprawling collection
Rathborne directed episodes of cult TV hit Twin Peaks, some of the cast is seen here including star Kyle Maclachlan, far right
‘I found the work I was born to do and I was longing for children,’ she said to the Boston Globe: ‘I had the privilege of being a mom. I didn’t look back over my shoulder.’
During those years DeNormandie built a sprawling real estate profile of over 100 profiles across New England and the south, with an interest in Louisiana where he now lives.
They include the historic Blackstone Block in Boston, where the Union Oyster House resides, and the luxury real estate enclave Lewis Wharf on the waterfront.
When things turned messy in the midst of their second divorce, DeNormandie claimed he had been unhappy with Rathborne’s period as a stay-at-home mother.
‘I made all of the money. She was an incredibly capable person who did nothing,’ he said to the Boston Globe. ‘She had seven-day-a-week help all the time.’
Rathborne started divorce proceedings in 2017 after the two grew apart, alleging in court papers that DeNormandie was aggressive and exhibited controlling behavior.
Both ultimately agreed to split their value down the middle at $110,379,691 apiece with DeNormandie agreeing to pay $600,000 in Rathborne’s legal fees.
Court papers indicate that they will meet in court next month to resolve the issue over the parking lot after discussing it with a judge.
The Daily Mail approached Rathborne and DeNormandie’s lawyers for comment.
