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Judge transfers Avenatti’s assets to estranged wife

A Southern California judge has transferred assets including an airplane and a Ferrari from Stormy Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti to his estranged wife

Michael Avenatti, lawyer for porn actress Stormy Daniels, speaks to reporters outside federal court in Los Angeles Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. He said that demands by lawyers for President Donald Trump for legal fees amounting to nearly $800,000 for filing a failed defamation lawsuit against him were "absurd and outrageous." Trump attorney Charles Harder told a federal judge in Los Angeles Monday that his firm put in more than 500 hours on the case. Daniels alleges she had an affair with Trump in 2006. She sued him after he dismissed her claims of being threatened to keep quiet about the tryst as a "total con job." (AP Photo/Brian Melley)
Michael Avenatti, lawyer for porn actress Stormy Daniels, speaks to reporters outside federal court in Los Angeles Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. He said that demands by lawyers for President Donald Trump for legal fees amounting to nearly $800,000 for filing a failed defamation lawsuit against him were "absurd and outrageous." Trump attorney Charles Harder told a federal judge in Los Angeles Monday that his firm put in more than 500 hours on the case. Daniels alleges she had an affair with Trump in 2006. She sued him after he dismissed her claims of being threatened to keep quiet about the tryst as a "total con job." (AP Photo/Brian Melley)Read moreBrian Melley / AP
    by AMANDA LEE MYERS, The Associated Press
    Published 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Southern California judge has transferred assets including an airplane and a Ferrari from porn actress Stormy Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti as part of his divorce, according to court records obtained Thursday.

Orange County Judge Carol Henson on Tuesday ordered some of Avenatti's assets be liquidated and sold for back child and spousal support.

Although the total amount Avenatti owes is unclear, he was previously ordered to pay more than $150,000 a month in child and spousal support.

In Tuesday's order, Henson said Avenatti must pay at least $80,000 to Lisa Storie-Avenatti on top of the transferred assets by Jan. 2.

Among those assets are a 2017 Ferrari GT Spider, five watches including a Rolex that retails for $12,000, a sculpture by famed architect Frank Gehry and a six-seat business jet worth millions.

Avenatti's attorney, Matt DeArmey, said the asset transfer is a standard part of divorce cases.

The 47-year-old Avenatti announced Tuesday that he's not running for president following a couple tumultuous weeks for the attorney, who has been a scathing critic of President Donald Trump.

Avenatti was arrested on Nov. 14 on a felony domestic violence charge stemming from allegations he roughed up a girlfriend. Prosecutors declined to bring felony charges against him in the case, but they are still investigating whether he should face a misdemeanor charge. Avenatti has vehemently denied wrongdoing.

On Monday, Trump's attorneys asked a judge for nearly $800,000 in attorneys' fees and penalties from Daniels for her failed defamation lawsuit, which was filed by Avenatti. Daniels has appealed the decision tossing the lawsuit, and Avenatti has said he expects to prevail at a higher court.

Avenatti tweeted that he made the decision not to run for president in 2020 at the urging of his family, and if not for their concerns, he would go for it.

Daniels has said she had an affair with President Donald Trump in 2006, a claim Trump denies.

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Associated Press Writer Amy Taxin contributed to this report from Orange, California.