Christine Baumgartner feels that her estranged husband, Kevin Costner, isn’t paying his fair share of child support and that the court-ordered $129,000 per month isn’t enough.
Baumgartner’s legal counsel filed documents recently asking that the court reconsider their previous ruling on how much Costner is obligated to pay so that the lifestyle the children have with her will be equal to the lifestyle they enjoy when with their father.
According to the court docs, obtained by ET, Baumgartner argues that, since their kids “fly on a 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,” the documents state. “175,057 per month will not be sufficient to replicate Kevin’s lifestyle, but it will be sufficient to allow her to provide a lifestyle for the children which is relatively comparable. For this reason, Christine’s request should be granted, and the order made retroactive to July 1.”
Costner and Baumgartner share three children — sons Cayden, 16, and Hayes, 14, and daughter Grace, 13.
Baumgartner, who filed for divorce in May, was originally asking the court to award her $248,000 per month in child support. In July, the court ruled that Costner would have to pay $129,000. The ruling also stated that both Costner and Baumgartner will each be responsible for covering 50 percent of health care expenses, as well as the cost of private school tuition and any extracurricular activities.
In her latest filing, Baumgartner is also asking the court to “make an additional award of attorney’s fees in the amount of $575,000 and expert costs in the amount of $280,000.”
The docs claim that Costner’s available cash flow from 2021 to 2022 was around $19 million, due to his role in Yellowstone, and his forthcoming Horizon film. The documents claim that due to his available resources, he should be on the hook for $175,000 per month and all of Baumgartner’s fees.
This latest child support request comes shortly after Baumgartner requested that the court force the star to produce “all statements, receipts, invoices, canceled checks (front and back) and other documents … relating to any extramarital romantic relationships” as part of her quest to dig into the actor’s finances amid their contentious divorce battle.
Regarding this request, Costner, 68, has maintained he “has no responsive documents for ‘extramarital romantic relationships’ in which he engaged because he engaged in none.” Furthermore, Costner has also asserted he “does not know for a fact if [Baumgartner] engaged in any ‘extramarital romantic relationships” before separation and, if so, whether she spent any of his money or charged any expenses in furtherance of her affair(s) on credit cards he paid.”
The “extramarital romantic relationships” mention — made in her demand for the production of documents, which were attached as exhibits in her recent 112-page court filing — is interesting, considering a former tenant of Costner’s denied back in June of having an inappropriate relationship with Baumgartner.
In the court documents she filed Monday, Baumgartner requested that the court compel the Yellowstone star to hand over bank and credit card statements as well as contracts highlighting “anticipated income.” She also accused Costner of being “evasive” about his finances and that whatever documents he has turned over have, so far, been “deficient.”