UPDATE 08/31/2023: Christine Baumgartner’s lawyers said in a brief:
“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.”
“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. […] 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.”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Kevin Costner and his soon-to-be ex-wife Christine are in the middle of a heated divorce battle, and things just got even more intense. According to court documents obtained by Yahoo, Kevin is refusing to pay an “astronomical amount of child support” to cover Christine’s plastic surgery expenses, which he claims total $188,500 per month.
Christine filed for divorce on May 1 after 18 years of marriage, and she has requested $248,000 per month in child support to maintain the lifestyle to which their three children have grown accustomed. However, Kevin’s attorneys are claiming that she is trying to replicate her own lifestyle, not that of the children. They have accused her of being “fundamentally dishonest” in her calculation of the children’s “reasonable” needs, and have pointed out that the plastic surgery expenses are her own, not the children’s.
In addition to the plastic surgery expenses, Kevin also claims that Christine has spent considerable amounts of money on herself and on others, including clothing and jewelry purchases, spa treatments, personal care, and gifts to friends and family members.
Christine has responded by saying that she has tried to move to a rental property in posh Montecito, but she couldn’t get a lease without a child support order showing she has income because she has no job or source of income. She accuses Kevin of being “aggressive” in getting her out of the house, especially as “the mother and primary caretaker of our three children.”
The divorce proceedings have taken a litigious turn, with Kevin accusing Christine of trying to squeeze him for an “astronomical amount of child support” to cover her own expenses. Christine, on the other hand, claims that Kevin is limiting her current spending and that she has been taking care of the children since March while Kevin is away making his latest film.
The next hearing in the case is set for July 5, and it remains to be seen how the court will rule on the matter. One thing is for sure, though: the divorce proceedings between Kevin and Christine Costner are far from over.
Sources
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/kevin-costner-claims-estranged-wife-012732914.html
Kevin Costner’s estranged wife wants kids to ride in private planes, go on vacations (pagesix.com)
