Kevin Costner’s ex Christine Baumgartner is asking for $248K a month in child support

Christine Baumgartner filed for divorce from Kevin Costner in early May, and the divorce drama is giving me so much joy. I’m joyful because none of this seems to be about abuse or anything sad or problematic. From what I can tell, Christine was just sick of Costner and sick of him never being around because he was always off on location, shooting various westerns. Costner is showing another reason why Christine left him: he’s trying to evict her from the home in which she’s raised their three (minor) children. Christine signed a prenup 19 years ago, the terms of which included a clause about how she would have to vacate all of Costner’s properties within 30 days. She has not – she’s staying put in their giant mansion, seemingly on the advice of the divorce lawyer she charged to Costner’s credit card. She also hired a forensic accountant, which explains why she’s now asking for $248K a month in child support. ‘Atta girl.

Kevin Costner’s estranged wife Christine is asking for $248,000 a month in child support, court documents reveal in the midst of their contentious divorce. The financial request is revealed in court documents recently filed by the former handbag designer’s attorneys, listed as “$248,000 total for all three children.”

In the filing, Christine, 49, alleges the figure “is less than the amount needed to maintain the children in their accustomed lifestyle” and is requesting that Costner, 68, also pay 100% of private-school tuition, extracurricular activities/sports and health-care expenses for their three kids: Cayden, 16, Hayes, 14, and Grace, 13.

No request for spousal support is noted in the request for order, which was filed on Friday in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara.

In the documents, Kevin’s 2022 income was listed at $19,517,0641 and their family’s expenses, not including taxes, were listed at $6,645,285. The net income for the family, after all expenses and taxes, was $7,595,520. Some of the expenses listed include regular travel to the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Aspen, and regular entertaining of guests, requiring caterers or chefs. In addition, the upkeep of their several large properties costs about $2 million a year.

Reps for both Costner and Christine did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment on Wednesday morning.

In court documents previously filed by Costner’s attorneys, he alleged that per their prenuptial agreement, Christine had 30 days to leave the shared house owned by the Yellowstone actor — and worth an estimated $145 million — after filing for divorce. Since she filed on May 1, that deadline has passed and she is still at the property. In the docs, Costner agrees to pay $38,000 a month in child support in addition to “100% of certain child related costs, including private school tuition, books, fees and uniforms and school trips, children’s sports, camps and other agreed upon extracurricular activities,” as well as health insurance, unreimbursed medical expenses and therapy costs for their kids.

[From People]

Well, I’m of the opinion that the child support figure is fine. It’s a negotiating tactic, and it’s also a signal to Costner that Christine’s forensic account knows exactly what money he has and what he’s bringing in annually. I suspect, giving the kids’ ages, she’ll probably get half that? She’s asking for roughly $3 million a year in child support, but it falls under the banner of “the children’s lifestyle and standard of living has to be maintained in both homes.” There’s a lot to be worked out before they get there, especially with the real estate stuff. One thing’s for sure, Christine isn’t about to get low-balled by some pre-nup she signed 19 years and three children ago.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.

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36 Responses to “Kevin Costner’s ex Christine Baumgartner is asking for $248K a month in child support”

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  1. robin says:

    lmao get that 250k child support (funny how people were calling kevin federline all kinds of names because he’s “unemployed and cashing britneys checks though”)

    • SquiddusMaximus says:

      I’m aware of the double standard here! LOL. But also aware of the massive power imbalance, both in this case specifically and also more generally when the man is the primary breadwinner. And in those situations, women/mothers tend to get hosed. I’m glad she has excellent legal advice — and it’s not like Costner is going to suffer in any meaningful way.

    • Mrs. S says:

      Exactly this! It never fails to blow my mind the pretzel people will twist themselves into to justify bashing a man for doing what they praise a woman for doing.

    • Erica says:

      If Kevin and Britney had been married for nearly 20 years and she had traveled the world for years on her own terms (without a conservator ship) for decades, I would absolutely be in favor of Kevin receiving almost 40% of her after tax income.

      • Brenda says:

        Nevermind how pregnancy and childbirth changes the body.
        Diasthesis rectii – hard to get a good surgical result closing that – complications are frequent and include fistulas (definitely on the list of things I never want to have), and adhesions which can become life threatening
        Prolapse (name the pelvic organ it probably applies) – a pessary is an awesome improvement but it only gets you so far and if it doesn’t bend right coming out it really hurts to take out, and surgery is only a temporary fix, etc.
        Sporadic urinary or fecal incontinence – one of my doctor buddies who had twins calls that the S&P 500….
        Varicose veins – fixes might not be recommended for certain people because the side effects might even be worse than the broken veins

        Kevin Federline didn’t have any of that to deal with.

        And she hd kids three times!!!

    • Kitten says:

      The double standard is really annoying I agree.

  2. Lovely says:

    Omg, did anyone see the family expenses figure in 2022? 6,5 mill? That is huge in the normal world. I’m not talking about her, she should ask for monies, it’s her right. I’m talking about a family that needed so much to live in one year. The gap is so huge!

  3. Lucy2 says:

    He made over $19 million last year, and offers $38,000 a month in child support? LOL. That’s not even half 1 million a year. Dude’s dreaming. It’s going to end up much closer to her number than his.

  4. Nubia says:

    This amount is obscene. You can never convince me such requests are all about keeping the children ‘in the manner they are accustomed to’. They are children for Pete’s sake their needs are basic and kids at this age can understand the concept of having to down grade a little if mom and dad are no longer together.

    • Sarah says:

      I agree with that for “normal” people. If my husband and I divorced, our lifestyle would have to change dramatically to support two households. But, with the uber wealthy, I don’t see why the kids should have to downgrade while their dad still lives high on the hog.

    • Ange says:

      It doesn’t matter that their needs are basic. They didn’t ask to be brought into the world but they were, and they were raised a certain way with certain privileges afforded to them because of their dad. Why should their dad get to continue on exactly the same while their lifestyle gets downgraded because of a divorce they had no say in?!

  5. TeamMeg says:

    I’m starting to have a different opinion about how these people live, and how much money they have. I know, I know, they earned it and have a right…. blah blah blah. But really? I’m not just talking celebrities, I’m talking all the multi-millionaires, and especially billionaires, in the world. It’s just not okay. Acting is great, I love movies and TV series as much as anyone. But why do actors, and singers, professional athletes, and CEOs make so much damn money? Why the great divide between them and all the rest of us? What if there were reasonable limits, above which nobody felt okay about surpassing when others in the world suffer so much. I guess I’m talking more about societal values, and cultural ethics, rather than laws and regulations. Just not being OK with having so much. Maybe this is not the forum to discuss that…but looking at the Royal Family on Garter Day—omg. So ridiculous, with all those velvet capes and ostrich plumes. So out of touch. Refugees, addicts, food deserts, homeless folks in inner cities…. even the relatively comfortable middle class…all struggling. And these people feel like they deserve (and I’m not saying Baumgartner doesn’t) $250,000 a month—that’s three times my annual salary, which is, by the way, the highest it’s ever been, but only just recently, as I approach retirement age. (When I was a single mom of two, I was scraping by on less than $25,000 a YEAR.) It’s just…. WEIRD.

    • Porsha says:

      These are my constant thoughts pretty much every day

    • Kitten says:

      Yeah it’s the CEOs that get to me the most, man.

      Because for every actor, athlete or singer who’s making an obscene amount of money there’s a CEO that’s making an even MORE obscene amount of money off of their work. I’m talking about owners of professional sports teams like Robert Pera, record label CEOs like Rob Stringer, or the head of Universal Pictures Ronald Meyer.

      Acting, Singing, and sports are all facets of the entertainment industry that are hard as hell to break into and extremely competitive. Overall, I’m ok with people being financially rewarded for their unique talents. I’m a bit more skeptical when I think of the “talent’ required to run a large company. Lots of these folks came from a certain pedigree: inherited wealth, private school, ivy league, etc. They didn’t get to where they are by pulling themselves up by the bootstraps but through a privileged upbringing, easy access to upward mobility, and the wealth and resources that are a result of that. So yeah, I like to side-eye the CEOs–the dudes drawing the most profit–over the talent that’s making them rich.

      • TeamMeg says:

        @Kitten Totally with you. The insiders view on Succession was not far from reality. Simply obscene.

      • AnneL says:

        I think some large companies can be run by Nepo Ivy Leaguers without it impacting things too badly. Others are more challenging. It does takes skill, hard work and a certain drive to make some big businesses successful. I have no problem with people being paid a lot to do it.

        That said there is a lot and A LOT. Some of the compensation these people get is truly obscene and undeserved.

        With Trump’s businesses, they were always privately held and not publicly traded. Going public, having your stock price watched and having to answer to a Board and shareholders, invites a lot more scrutiny in terms of performance.

  6. Flower says:

    She’s effectively trying to circumvent the pre-nup and that number is large bc of the children’s ages.

    They both need to sit down and work this out, making the mother of your children look bad never goes down well.

  7. Barbiem says:

    He had a right to a prenuptial. That 145 million dollar home was his money I would ask her to leave too. If I was the rich celebrity and my husband was trying to take my home i would be pissed.
    However this where she should get her money. Child support, spousal support, moving expenses. She should come out this marriage pretty damn rich. Why everyone advocating she stay in the home and he vacate. He particularly wanted to protect it in the prenuptial. And the kids dont have to move out. It remains their home just not hers. Well whatever she get i hope its a lot. I dont feel bad for NEITHER one of them. RICH people problems. Let me go back to my desk and work

    • Duch says:

      Sorry but how is that going to work – the kids stay in the house but she doesn’t? She is the primary caregiver, and sounds like the sole caregiver given he’s never home.

      I normally would agree with you re the house but given the ages of tge kids I don’t see it here. It’s all about the kids in my opinion. (And it’s how my ex and I handled ours – whatever is best for the kids drive all our decisions.)

    • H says:

      Normally, I would agree with you, but it seems like Kevin is an absent father and husband and if the rumors are true, he impregnated somebody on the Yellowstone set. (I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about that later. 🤞)

      It sounds like Kevin just wants to stick it to Christine and have her move out of the house to punish her (see Zoom call article). Who will take care of the children if she moves? They are minors, only one is of driving age. He says he needs to edit his epic western, so who’s going to pick the kids up take them to activities/school? Kevin? I doubt it. He has like three or four houses on that compound. They all can stay there and probably not see each other.

    • BlueNailsBetty says:

      @BarbieM. I haven’t seen anyone advocate for Christine to remain in the house permanently. In my personal opinion, that house should remain Kevin’s since he owned it before the marriage. Also, I can’t imagine the property taxes for it and I wouldn’t want to pay them.

      However, she should stay in the house, with the minor children she (mostly) parents alone, until a settlement has been agreed upon and a new house in that area has been purchased.

  8. Kokiri says:

    “Double standard”.

    Like women were only granted the right to even file for divorce what, 100 years ago or so?
    Like before men voted & “gave” rights to women they didn’t first change laws that protect men from being held accountable? Like these laws are being protected still, & enforced by men?

    Double standard? Not even close ladies. Stop propping up your own submission.

    I hope she takes everything.

    • Mireille says:

      +1000. The last time I checked Costner wasn’t forced in a abusive and exploitive lockdown conservatorship in which his wife took advantage of financially while turning their kids against one parent. Divorce cases are different with every couple. Unlike Costner, Spears gave into EVERYTHING Federline wanted and more, forced to by her family with the threats of never seeing her kids. She still continues to do as he asks even when he threatens her with legal action (Hawaii) and releasing video recordings of her secretly filmed by their own kids.

      Likening Christine Baumgartner’s case to Kevin Federline’s and calling out “double standard” is sick and twisted.

    • bisynaptic says:

      🙂

  9. HeyKay says:

    He made big money in 2022 because of Yellowstone. Yellowstone is over.
    He also had a good decade of crummy movies that were box office flops.

    This is a rich HW problem.
    The lawyers are dancing and eating cake 24/7. LOL

  10. Isadora says:

    Kevin has already given Christine $1 million as part of their prenup agreement. He has agreed to give her $38,000 a month in child support (plus he’s agreed to cover their kids’ tuition and other expenses), $30,000 a month toward a new home, and $10,000 for moving costs. It’s not like he ran away from his responsiblity as a father. And he has given her what she had the right to claim under the agreed pre-nup. We’re talking about child support not spousal support.

    He’s not going to be in Yellowstone anymore. So that’s not an income you can base a number like that. It can end up biting you in the ass when you start to get greedy and think you’re entitled to so much more when you’re not having the kids wellbeing first place.

  11. Arizona says:

    I’m just thinking about how divorces are covered and commented here and… if it were a man who was refusing to leave the home that was previously bought by the woman prior to the relationship AND he had signed a prenup saying he would vacate in the event of a divorce, that we’d be saying atta boy to him – even if he was the primary parent.

    I have no love for Kevin Costner AT ALL, but I think she’s being kind of shitty as well, and I’m not sure why we’re praising her for it since it seems infidelity and abuse are not part of the picture (at least so far).

    • tammy says:

      Exactly, no one was cheering for Kelly Clarkson’s ex.

    • lucy2 says:

      I almost posted on a previous one where people thought she should get the house, what if it were Brad Pitt refusing to leave Angelina Jolie’s home that she had pre-marriage?

      That said I don’t blame her for not moving out immediately given that she’s got the kids, and she should get a fair settlement after decades of marriage and supporting his career.

  12. Saschafrom76 says:

    As if Kevin Federline was married to Britney for 19 years and raised three children drama free! As if he didn’t marry another woman and knock her up and has her doing alll the work while neither have jobs. The only equivalencies here are FALSE plain and sumple

    • Coco says:

      For the love of God, it is not about Kevin Federline, he was just an example.

      Common sense

  13. JustMe says:

    Every picture I see she looks different- especially when she’s blonde

  14. J.ferber says:

    Aren’t the kids supposed to keep the life they were accustomed to pre-divorce? If he made 19;million last year, then a bit less than 4 million per year for the kids does not sound unreasonable.