Rory McIlroy’s estranged wife, Erica Stoll, has missed the window to contest the pro golfer’s divorce petition.
McIlroy, 35, filed for divorce from Stoll, 36, last month and she was served at their Florida home on May 13. Per the state’s guidelines, Stoll had a 20-day window to respond to the motion. A representative with the Palm Beach County Clerk’s office confirmed to the Daily Mail on Wednesday, June 5, that Stoll did not file any response during that time period.
Since Stoll has not legally responded to McIlroy’s petition, the court could potentially grant him a default divorce. According to Florida statutes, McIlroy can file a motion for a default judgment in his favor. Such judgment means that Stoll would forfeit the right to argue or contest any of McIlroy’s terms.
“In any case, if you don’t file a response or a response of pleading, you’re going to be defaulted,” legal expert Neama Rahmani exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this month. “The judge will only hear one side of the case and if you don’t defend yourself, that’s how you get a default to judgment. You could lose custody, you could lose property, you could get a judgment against you, and people can enforce it by garnishing your wages, taking your property. So it is very important in any type of case, civil, criminal, family law for served with papers, hire a lawyer and make sure you respond.”
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McIlroy and Stoll were married for seven years and share daughter Poppy, 3. The pro athlete claimed that their marriage was “irretrievably broken” when he filed in May. The divorce docs also reveal that McIlroy and Stoll have a prenup in place.
“Rory McIlroy’s communications team confirmed today that a divorce has been filed,” his rep told the Irish Star on May 14. “They stressed Rory’s desire to ensure this difficult time is as respectful and amicable as possible. He will not be making any further comment.”
Stoll, for her part, has not publicly addressed the divorce, though a source told Us she had been “lonely” in their marriage.
“Rory was a hard person to be married to,” the insider claimed to Us. “[Erica] knew what she was getting into with his profession, but once they had Poppy, things really changed and she had a new perspective. Erica was usually absent for most of his tournaments and was really focused on Poppy.”
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McIlroy is currently competing on the PGA Tour and participated in last month’s PGA Championship, Charles Schwab Challenge and Canadian Open. He is next set to compete at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio starting on Thursday, June 6.
McIlroy has not publicly addressed the ongoing divorce during tournaments or in pre-match press conferences, but he previously said that he can “compartmentalize” when needed on game days.
“Getting inside the ropes for that four or five hours or whatever it is a day, it’s a nice escape from everything else that’s going on in the world of golf,” he told reporters before last month’s PGA Championship. “I don’t mind it. I’ve always been able to compartmentalize pretty well. I seem to, for whatever reason, play very good golf whenever I have a lot of stuff going on.”
Since news broke that McIlroy filed for divorce from Stoll, rumors have swirled that he is dating sportscaster Amanda Balionis. Us exclusively confirmed later in May that McIlroy and Balionis only have a professional relationship.
