Christine Baumgartner is requesting nearly $200,000 a month in child support from her estranged husband, Kevin Costner. She argues that this amount is needed to maintain their children’s current standard of living when they are with her.
Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner got married in September 2004. This was Costner’s second marriage following his divorce from Cindy Silva in 1994.
Costner and Baumgartner had their first child (Cayden Wyatt Costner, 16) less than three years after marriage. This was a surprise because Costner had been unsure about marrying again and having more kids after his divorce from Silva. They share two more kids: son Hayes, 14, and daughter Grace, 13.
Baumgartner filed for divorce from Costner in May 2023 after 18 years of marriage. Since then, the two have been in a chaotic back-and-forth battle over property, expenses, and child support payments.
Kevin Costner Could Not Afford the Amount Requested by Christine Baumgartner
Christine Baumgartner’s legal team wrote and submitted a brief before the August 31 duo’s hearing, which follows:
“The Court is required to set child support at a level that, when the children are with Christine, they live a lifestyle relatively comparable to the one they enjoy when they are with their father.”
It continues:
“The Court order must allow the children to be supported at a level commensurate with Kevin’s considerable wealth, even if that level of support also improves the standard of living of Christine.”
Baumgartner initially asked for $248,000 monthly in child support, but Kevin Costner argued that he couldn’t afford the amount due to his predicted decrease in income after leaving Yellowstone in 2023.
Christine Baumgartner Argued for Kids’ Private Jet Vacations in Legal Hearing
Baumgartner’s legal team declared that their three children — Cayden, 16, Hayes, 14, and Grace, 13 should have a “comparable house” similar to their father’s when staying with their mother.
Court documents revealed Costner’s place has a “fair market value of $65 million to $95 million and a monthly rental value of at least $150,000.”
She also asserted that their children should have the same vacation experiences with her as they’ve had thus far with their father. For this, her legal team claimed:
“Because the children fly on private aircraft to go on luxury vacations when they are with their father, the Family Code dictates that Kevin should pay sufficient child support to Christine so that the children can go on comparable vacations when they are with her. This is true even if the child support payments also improve Christine’s lifestyle.”
They added that in this case, the guideline child support requested by Christine of $175,057 per month would not be sufficient to replicate Costner’s s lifestyle. Still, it will be sufficient to allow her to provide a lifestyle for the children which is relatively comparable.
The Wednesday hearing, scheduled on September 1, decided on the child support. On Friday, a judge in Santa Barbara granted her $63,000 a month, which is less than half of the $129,000 she currently receives and a little over a third of what she had requested.
Source: US Magazine
