Alex Bohm’s parents seek lawsuit’s dismissal, and say they’ve only tried to protect their son’s money
New court filings give additional insight into what the Phillies third baseman has alleged is a multimillion dollar mismanagement of his financial affairs.
Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm’s legal dispute with his parents got its start late last year, when he first questioned them about his finances, according to newly filed court documents.
Attorneys for Daniel and Lisa Bohm last week moved to dismiss Bohm’s lawsuit, and opposed a request for a preliminary injunction that would require them to return more than $500,000 the player says they took from him to use for legal expenses. The filings also give additional insight into what Bohm has alleged is a multimillion dollar mismanagement of his financial affairs, with his parents saying they have only taken steps to safeguard their son’s earnings.
Earlier documents in the case, filed last month in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, indicate Bohm’s parents had overseen his finances since 2019, using a series of LLCs to hold the money and assets he earned as a professional baseball player. Daniel and Lisa Bohm, however, say in the new filings that their son did not raise concerns about their handling of his finances until October.
That month, the Phillies player began asking about his parents’ handling of his finances, Daniel Bohm said in a filing. The conversation lasted for hours and his son repeatedly stepped away to take phone calls before returning with additional questions, Daniel Bohm said.
“Alec had never objected to or really questioned anything we ever did for him up until that point,” the filing said. His son, Daniel Bohm added, appeared to have been “asked to collect and report information to someone else.”
While the filings do not detail how the situation developed over the months that followed, in January, Daniel Bohm said, he and his wife received a letter from Bohm’s attorneys asking for an extensive list of financial records and organizational documents for the LLCs used to manage his money and property. Since then, Bohm and his parents have only communicated about the situation through attorneys, Daniel Bohm said.
A separate filing said that in February, Bohm’s attorneys instructed his parents to leave their son’s Florida condominium, where they lived part time with Bohm’s permission. Court records list the condo as the address for both Bohm and his parents.
Since then, Bohm’s parents said, they had been living in a recreational vehicle they used to travel to their son’s baseball games around the country. As of last week, they had “not had time to find new permanent housing,” according to court documents.
In early March, the dispute escalated with Bohm’s withdrawal of funds from a number of banking and investment accounts associated with the LLCs, Daniel and Lisa Bohm said in court documents. The move disrupted payments for recurring expenses tied to Bohm’s properties, with Bohm failing to take “appropriate steps to transfer” the bills to other accounts, the documents say.
Expenses included condominium fees, rent for an apartment in New Jersey, and rental insurance, Bohm’s parents said. Some bills, Daniel Bohm added, were still in Lisa Bohm’s name, including an electric bill for the New Jersey apartment, and a security bill for Bohm’s Texas property, with reimbursement typically coming from the LLC accounts.
Days later, Bohm’s parents said, they transferred $528,618 from a money market account held in one LLC’s name to their attorney’s trust account. Attorneys for the pair said the money remains there, and was moved for safekeeping, and so funds would be available to cover LLC-related expenses.
Bohm later filed suit against his parents on March 25. He is seeking at least $3 million, an accounting of the money at issue, and other relief. He has asked for a preliminary injunction requiring his parents to return the $500,000 he alleges they took to pay for anticipated legal expenses. His attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A hearing date for the preliminary injunction request has not yet been scheduled, according to court records.
Daniel and Lisa Bohm, have said through legal representation that the transfer was not improper. They have “always tried to protect their son and his assets,” attorney Siobhan Cole of Holland & Knight said in a statement.
Cole added that Bohm’s parents hope that the new filings can show him that his claims are “misguided and unfounded,” and that the pair are committed to “restoring their relationship” with him.
