Costner vs. Costner: Actor’s ex-wife demands $160,000 a month as luxury is in her children’s ‘DNA’

After 18 years of marriage, Kevin Costner and his wife Christine Baumgartner announced their separation at the beginning of May and since then there has been plenty of cross communiqués and drama with money the central issue of the ongoing divorce proceedings. Thursday, August 31 was a date marked in the calendars of both the actor and the designer as it was the first hearing in the trial that will decide the terms of their separation. For now, the temporary measure is that Costner will provide Baumgartner with around $130,000 a month to support their three children.

The hearing took place in Santa Barbara, where the Costners’ home is located. The Dances With Wolves actor’s fortune is estimated at around $250 million; for the most recent season of his television series Yellowstone, the actor agreed a salary increase with Paramount of $1.2 million per episode. Therefore, the alimony the actor will be asked to provide for Baumgartner and her three children — Cayden, 16, Hayes, 14, and Grace, 13 — will be considerable. Baumgartner’s initial demand was for $175,000 a month $46,000 more than the $129,755 the judge has dictated.

Finally, after providing several financial reports, she has asked for $161,592 in alimony for the three teenagers. If there is an agreement, it will be retroactive, effective as of July 1. In June, she had asked for $250,000 a month, which would amount to $3 million a year for the support of the three children. Costner has offered $60,000 a month in addition to the $1.5 million he has already paid as stipulated in their prenuptial agreement.

The designer’s lawyer has stated that these stratospheric figures are being sought because a luxurious life is “in the DNA” of the children, and listed the number of sports they practice and the importance of the family’s horses and their homes. The main one, located in the neighboring town of Carpinteria, covers four hectares and has four buildings linked together, plus an infinity pool, a volleyball court and two small guest houses. “We have created a community,” Baumgartner said, explaining that her children are “very connected to the ocean, it’s their home. Here we have created everything you can dream of,” she said about the mansion that the actor owns, and from she was evicted last July via a court order after refusing to leave the property.

People magazine has obtained a legal report of Costner’s finances which specifies that “the average cash flow available for the period 2021-2022 was $19,248,467, or $1,604,039 per month,” hence Baumgartner’s request for $161,592 per month, around 10% of the actor’s budget. The designer’s lawyers claim that the alimony they are demanding for the children “will not be enough to replicate Kevin’s lifestyle, but it will be enough to allow [Christine] to provide them with a relatively comparable lifestyle.”

According to TMZ, Costner says his ex-wife has accused him of being a cheapskate despite the child support ne continues to pay. The actor has also described Baumgartner’s demands as a “relentless jihad” and that her “boyfriend” has given her thousands of dollars in cash. He has also accused her of using $105,000 of his own money to pay her lawyers, as well as of “inflating the child support bills” with expenses of her own, such as personal trainers or cosmetic surgery. Therefore, in Costner’s view, the $60,000 a month he provides is sufficient because he believes his ex-wife is capable of earning although “she has no plans to seek employment or engage in any income-generating activity.”

For the moment, as stipulated, Costner must pay $129,000 per month to his children, but it is a temporary decision and the hearing will continue Friday when the judge is expected to establish precise amounts and conditions.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition