Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner’s divorce is still on-going. The last major update is that the child support issue is now settled, with Costner ordered to pay Christine $63K a month in child support, which is about a third of what she asked for and nowhere near enough to provide their three children with a comparable lifestyle. It’s not looking good for Christine’s attempt to nullify the prenup, and the hearing/trial for that comes up in a few months. I’ve said for a while that the old-fart judge seems to be blatantly on Costner’s side about everything, and last week, the judge explained his child support ruling, and I want you to read some of it:
Judge Thomas P. Anderle, in a Tuesday court filing obtained by PEOPLE, recapped the proceedings and explained that he found Christine “credible” in her Thursday testimony, with “good courtroom demeanor.” However, while the judge “did not perceive there was any intention by [Christine] to mislead the Court,” her testimony “was not much help on the issue before the bench today; will weigh her testimony with all the evidence in this case.”
About Kevin, Anderle wrote that he “recognizes he is professional actor” and “weighed that in the decision-making process when judging his credibility.”
The judge “did not find he embellished any of his testimony by relying on his profession; his testimony was straightforward; there was ‘no acting’; found his testimony to be credible and consistent.” Anderle added that “both sides made strong closing arguments.”
In regards to the ruling, Anderle said the “reasonable needs of the children are fully met by this child support order” and anything “greater than $63,209 per month” would be “disguised spousal support.”
He added: “Christine will have her opportunity to convince the Court that she is entitled to spousal support. That is not the issue at hand for this hearing.”
The judge was considering how much he “believed” Costner and Baumgartner rather than following the law or the financials. Christine’s child support request wasn’t a number plucked out of the air – she hired a forensic accountant and based her request on Costner’s annual income and wealth. The judge was like “sure, she was likable but I just don’t think she should get that much money.” Well, clearly, Costner and his lawyers understand that this judge will take his side on every issue, so as I predicted, Costner is now fighting Christine over her legal costs.
Kevin Costner’s lawyer skewered Christine Baumgartner’s request for the actor to pay his estranged wife an alleged $885,000 in legal fees. After Baumgartner’s legal team claimed she will be charged the staggering sum to argue her case against the former couple’s prenuptial agreement, Costner’s high-powered attorney Laura Wasser argued in a new filing that the fee in question would be absurd, according to TMZ.
Wasser reportedly argued that, based on hourly rates, Baumgartner’s legal team would have to put in 1,106 hours of billable work hours to justify charging her that amount.
The legal eagle dubbed Baumgartner’s request for Costner to cover her steep legal bill as “nothing short of outrageous,” noting that the judge already deemed their prenup enforceable.
Wasser also alleged that Baumgartner has no leg to stand on and should just throw in the towel.
The way this ends is that the judge upholds the prenup, Christine gets zero alimony, the judge sides with Costner on everything, and Christine only gets the $1 million payout from the prenup. Then Christine will be ordered to pay her legal fees and Costner’s legal fees, which will not only wipe out the $1 million, but leave her in debt. Then the bot farm hired by Costner will flood social media and blog comments and say that she deserved it and that she’s not being financially abused.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.
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- Christine Baumgartner, Kevin Costner at arrivals for HIDDEN FIGURES Screening, The School of Visual Arts (SVA) Theatre, New York, NY December 10, 2016.,Image: 512870046, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Dennis Van Tine / Avalon
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- 132472, Kevin Costner, Christine Baumgartner attends the premiere of ‘McFarland USA’ in Los Angeles on Monday, February 9th, 2015.,Image: 531254209, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- “The Art of Racing in the Rain” World Premiere at the El Capitan Theater on August 1, 2019 in Los Angeles, CA Featuring: Grace Avery Costner, Kevin Costner, Cayden Wyatt Costner, Christine Baumgartner, Hayes Logan Costner Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 02 Aug 2019 **ONLY AVAILABLE FOR SPAIN & USA**,Image: 536804849, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: USA and SPAIN DIRECT SALES ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: WENN / Wenn / Avalon
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- Kevin Costner attends the 2022 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones celebrating the 94th annual Academy Awards at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 27, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California,Image: 673587364, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Kevin Costner, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
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- Los Angeles, CA – Christine arrived by limousine at the Santa Barbara Courthouse and is met by a woman presumed to be her lawyer. Pictured: Christine Baumgartner BACKGRID USA 5 JULY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Christine arrived by limousine at the Santa Barbara Courthouse and is met by a woman presumed to be her lawyer. Pictured: Christine Baumgartner BACKGRID USA 5 JULY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- 94th Academy Awards (Oscars) – Red Carpet Arrivals Featuring: Christine Baumgartner, Kevin Costner Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 27 Mar 2022 Credit: Abby Grant/Cover Images
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- Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Featuring: Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 27 Mar 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages/Cover Images **ONLY AVAILABLE FOR NORTH AMERICA**
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- Vanity Fair Oscar Party at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Featuring: Kevin Costner, Christine Baumgartner Where: Beverly Hills, California, United States When: 27 Mar 2022 Credit: Abby Grant/Cover Images
Open question for any lawyers in the house: How common is it for one side to pay the other’s legal fees in a divorce. My gut says that’s pretty rare but would love input from someone with more of a background.
Depends on the jurisdiction. In my state, it varies by county. Where I primarily practiced family law, awards of costs and fees were common when: 1. One side filed pointless/frivolous motions they eventually lost. 2. When one side had substantially more money than the other, and the cost of the litigation justified the high dollar amount of costs and fees. There are many variables, but where I practice, it is uncommon for a losing side to be granted costs and fees.
I practice exclusively family law and in most cases, parties each pay their own legal fees. However, in cases where there’s a huge disparity in income, is not uncommon for the higher earning spouse to contribute to the other party’s fees. In this case, I do think Kevin should have to contribute to Christine’s legal fees. However, I also agree with Kevin’s lawyer that the amount requested by her legal team is absolutely outrageous, even for a high-profile case like this. Lawyers have to be able to justify their fees and when I see a number like that, I’m left with the suspicion that Christine’s lawyers are just telling her whatever she wants to hear instead of providing her with actually good legal advice because they want to milk this case for all they can.
I continue to go back to WHO drafted the prenup. Certainly not someone with their clients best interest at heart. With the wealth of Costner I am surprised their wasn’t a sliding scale. 1 million up to 5 years, 5 million from 5-10 & at 10 years, in CA, the union takes on “marriage of considerable length” status which changes how property, alimony & child support are looked upon. Take a look at how many relationships of the rich & famous in CA broke up right at the 10 year mark. I would think that would have been the FIRST thing her attorney’s would be questioning. I think she signed whatever he put in front of her because she wanted to marry him & I am guessing this was his “deal breaker.” Sign up or no deal. Feel bad for her but seriously he has always been a bit of a jerk. Makes me sad because I loved him in No Way Out
Not any atty, BUT I paid for my divorce in CA b/c my ex wouldn’t sign the papers for 2 years, he fought all the way, and I gave him the entire contents of our house, and the house, just so I could get the divorce and my son. So I did pay for mine. It was worth every single penny.
I don’t care what anybody says, I feel for Christine and thing that she should get some spousal support. At least until the kids graduate high school. This will help her but he’s a sh!t stain punk and she’ll probably get nothing. Call Andy Cohen now Christine!!!
She’s not getting the $1 million. Pretty sure that was part of a “no contest” clause in the prenup that she threw away once she contested the agreement. And she’s not getting spousal support–not because the judge is a jerk, but because she waived it in the prenup.
Just bad instincts & bad advice all around for Christine.
She got 18yrs living a wealthy elite lifestyle. Her children will still be wealthy and privileged. Kevin got the upper hand. The judged is not even pretending to be fair….And she did not play her cards right. At all.
Just such a petty asshole. The judge sounds like a real piece of work too.
The judge is creating a factual record by discussing credibility. That’s something that an appeals court cannot determine in most cases because an appeals court does not hear testimony. So I don’t find that unusual or problematic. What I do think is interesting is that the judge seems to be assessing the needs of the children, and I *think* but don’t know that Cali uses parental income as the correct measure. If so, she has a solid ground for appeal. But I don’t trust those lawyers – the legal fees seem super bloated.
Do you think the judge is doing this for the appellate court? Because I’m pretty sure she’s going to appeal this.
Actually I fear Laura Wasser and Kaiser are right. She won’t be able to nullify the prenup and her best chance was child support to equal the lifestyle they’ve been accustomed to living. Since that’s been settled all the rest will just be a huge legal bill she will have to pay and he won’t. Sorry Christine you need to cut your losses. At least you won’t have to put up with grouchy Kevin anymore so there’s that.
It actually sounds like Christine’s legal team agrees. I read this as the amount they are requesting is “future” fees to contest the prenup, not fees for legal services already rendered. If they thought Christine would prevail, why would they be asking for this at the front end?
I do feel genuinely bad for this person. It’s clear that she is not very smart and that she has also gotten really bad legal advice, both from whomever handled her side of the original prenup and from her attorneys now. That being said, there is a reason people have prenups, and one of those reasons is to avoid exactly this scenario, hefty legal bills. I don’t see any reason he should have to pay her legal bills unless the prenup says he is supposed to. He is a complete d-bag, but she initiated the divorce and she is contesting the prenup. Her best bet here is to appeal the child support ruling and if she ultimately wins on that then Kevin should pay the attorney fees for that part of the legal proceedings.
The legal fees relate solely to the child support hearing, I think, so the fact that there is a prenup should not weigh on whether she gets legal fees for having to go to court over child support payments.
The legal fees are prospective. Her attorneys are asking for almost a million dollars to contest the prenup. That’s what Wasser is scoffing at, saying that they’d been to work over 1000 hours to get to that amount of money.
@LoonetTunes – my bad, I misread that. i don’t know what they would be billing for since they apparently can’t even answer interrogatories! It sounds like she already received some money for experts and attys so this does seem like a cash grab. On the other hand, I do see how she needs the money to make her case. But not that much!
Ugh this makes me feel sick for her and the kids. As vindictive as he is I can’t help feeling like he’s tries to poison the kids against her.
We sure her lawyers aren’t working against her? She filed for divorce a couple months ago, how did her lawyers come up with nearly $1 million in fees? She’s being scammed.
So without getting into everything else, the spousal support comment is interesting because I do think that’s what she was trying to do, and even her supporters on here admitted it (when people say “well the child support runs out so that 60k isn’t enough ” they’re essentially saying she’s entitled to spousal support as well.)
She may very well be entitled to spousal support, but that’s going to be a different argument/discussion. CS is separate from SS. Will the prenup trump her rights to spousal support? IDK.
I’ve said over and over again on here that it sounds like christine has gotten bad advice from the get-go here. I feel like she met with these lawyers pre-filing, they told her “dont worry about it, we’ll nullify the prenup, get you a huge CS payment, and he’ll have to pay your legal bills, you’re going to come out ahead” and that’s not how this is playing out and the thing is……people might think this is unethical but its not illegal, and her lawyers should have known that.
I mean maybe if her lawyers had asked for half that for legal fees, Laura Wasser would have told Kevin just to pay it so he looks like he’s making SOME effort here. But almost a million in legal fees is outrageous at this point in the process.
This feels like California needs to do some updating of their divorce laws, as well as a cleaning out of some terrible judges. Clauses saying you get nothing if you contest the prenup need to be banned, or they should only be allowed to be valid for a limited time period or with no children. There needs to be some sense that over time the amount of money agreed to in a prenup will have equal buying power as when the agreement was made. That the wealthier spouse pays costs for both sides is an absolutely normal thing that exists to help people trying to exit an abusive marriage.
Honestly, once this is over, wouldn’t be surprised to see her in a regular court suing over the abusive treatment she is receiving here. That a prenup wasn’t recalculated during the marriage should be a sign of financial abuse.
I’m sorry, but it is really hard for I think most people to understand how there is financial abuse happening when Christine does not seem to dispute spending massive amounts of money on all sorts of luxuries. I haven’t seen any denials of $188K annually on plastic surgery, and she herself testified about, again it blows my mind, paying to haul in 40 tons of snow to Santa Barbara for a Christmas party and hiring live animals for a nativity scene “for the children to ride” which I assume means camels! She was also able to buy a new car and use his credit card account to pay for $100K in legal and forensic accounting fees without him knowing–this just would not happen if she was in a financially abusive relationship. It sounds less like financial abuse and more like she doesn’t want to be married to an old man any more, but she does want to keep the lifestyle his wealth afforded her. I am keeping an open mind–maybe we will hear terrible things when she contests the prenup, but right now I just don’t see it.
Really think Costner is going to regret this in the long run. He should’ve paid her off and asked her to sign an ironclad NDA.
Now that she’s not financially comfortable, there’s a good chance she’s going to go looking for money by selling her story to tabloids or writing a book or something. Basically, if she wants to make money in the immediate future, the best thing she has to trade on is his reputation.
lol! Why should he regret it? She initiated the divorce. She charged over $90,000 for financial forensics. Kevin initially offered her 70,000 for CS and a house not just the one he is staying in. She refused thinking she was going to get more only to have it reduced to about 63 thousand. CS is based on income. It doesn’t matter how rich the person is. She signed a iron clad prenup and is not entitled to spousal support. The law is the law and facts are facts. It’s a divorce not a non profit.
She had access to unlimited finances. Then she divorced him. Okay. I will pay all the expenses for my children, she will be fine. 63, thousand is just for her daily living. She is not paying any child expenses. It’s enough.
A divorce is a divorce. Everyone here acting like in the same position they are going to just lay down and let the other party walk all over them. or yet sill, open their bank account and say you can have anything you want. That is not reality. She wanted a divorce, she got one. Not just the way she wanted it. C’est la vie. She’ll live. The money will not be spent on the kids as Kevin is handling that. I am team nobody. You win some and lose some.
Costner clearly cares about his assets above everything else and has been that way from the get-go. You don’t draw up an ironclad prenup without the will to enforce it if/when the time comes. There’s no way he’s going to pay a penny more than he is required and will have no regrets about it. His behavior shows he’s unconcerned about his “brand” at this point in his life/career or anything she may put out there. Plus if she embellishes whatever story she tells, you’d better believe he’ll drag her into court with a defamation suit, where he could/would truly bury her in legal fees.
I think he would’ve let her go with child support and the deed to any home she wanted had she not contested the prenup and took him to court. He cares about his assets, which is why he would’ve given her a reasonable settlement.
While Costner is being a jerk, I also wonder, quite honestly, if she got taken for a ride by some unethical lawyers. While her desire to divorce a man who really isn’t there for her in the child raising is entirely fair, my feeling is she should have been told from the get go that this likely wouldn’t end in her favor. Unless he was having an affair or openly abusive to the family, there really isn’t much reason for a judge to upend the prenup. She agreed to it. She signed it. Lack of foresight doesn’t really fall on the shoulders of the legal system to fix.
We can argue all we want about situations changing, but the unfortunate reality is that people, especially women, need to consider all of that BEFORE legally binding themselves to a spouse and giving up their careers. There’s a reason why second wave feminists were adamant about women having their own jobs and careers – because money is *power* in America. While there’s nothing wrong with being a SAHM/SAHF, in a country without social safety nets, it’s always going to be a risk to give up your career and lean on somebody financially. I wish more people would be honest about that with themselves.
@Veronica S. I do think that she got taken for a ride too. I couldn’t believe that they allowed her to give such a pathetic testimony. Like they didn’t coach her at all. The judge must have a reputation after all those years and they must have know what he looks for in a case with high profile people.
1. DON’T to go on any vacations and to be seen with her children at all times.
2. DON’T to come in in a limo to court
3. DON’T Slap Kevin with divorce papers, ask for 250k in child support and then tell him to “mellow out” because he won’t talk to you. I think this triggered him and he is taking out what he feels about his first divorce. Negotiations with lawyers needed to happen first.
4. DON’T talk about private jets, extravagant parties on 10 acres, cry that the Aspen house has sentimental value, luxurious DNA ect
5. DO Get media training before going to the papers with more mud slinging. He did terrible in this area as well.
6. DO Make your case about being emotionally neglected, that you are thinking of the well being of your kids seeing how unhappy you are, that you don’t want to disrupt their lives, that because you didn’t work you don’t have a retirement account and you are asking for what is fair. How supportive you were in the marriage and how you made your properties real homes for the family.
She messed up so much I felt her lawyers were letting her free fall or she ignored them. I can’t tell.
Veronica, you should have seen the daggers I got when I suggested to a woman that she not give up her career just in case. They aren’t even married yet and already with the stay at home, emotional and logistical labor for the guy plus his parents, cooking, etc.
This needs to be a bolder part of societal conversation even when the relationship still seems lovely.
100% agree Veronica
I still feel it went the way it did because of her own actions but she doesn’t deserve this new stuff though. I do feel she should have gotten spousal support and 100k for the kids at least but she couldn’t keep her rich white lady sob story to herself on the stand. I really hoped Kevin would have reflected a bit after the sting of dying alone set in for him that he is being petty and trying to destroy someone he didn’t have to destroy and that to me is the evil in him. I get it she left him, she tried to get the prenup thrown out, went on vacation with his friend and cried about the Aspen house and not the demise of the marriage but she is still a person that is the mother of his kids. Some people are so poor all they have is money. Shame on him.
Why should he have to pay her legal costs? I don’t understand why he would have to at all. The idea that person A asks for a divorce, Person A uses their lawyers’ time to draft notices about not understanding the word “understand/comprehend”, but Person B should pay for all that is beyond me. Even if it were the other way around it wouldn’t make sense to me. She pays for her lawyers. He pays for his.
Child support calculations are usually set by state statute. The calculation is based on total income of both parents and the number of children. I imagine the child support was pre
determined as a standard matter of course and that Ms. Baumgartner asked the court to award her upwards of the statutory amount. Given the amount awarded, it seems hard to argue the kids need more support than what is legally provided. Costner could appeal any higher award and the judge is saving them both the trouble.
I am surprised that Costner doesnt give in on contributing funds to a reasonable home for the kids though. Even if the ex lives there, its still for the kids. Man up bitch.
I think there is language about housing allowances in the prenup, so while it would make sense that it would be related to the child support hearing, from a litigation perspective it has to wait until the hearing about the prenup.
He is disgusting.
I continue to believe this woman is not receiving quality legal advice (and don’t get me started on her PR team) and should drop them asap. It looks like there is a fairly decent case to be made to get Costner to pay her legal fees, yet they immediately undermine that by throwing out a number that Wasser will have no difficulty discrediting. What are those clowns doing, they’ve let this woman down at every turn.
& he shouldn’t have to pay for her legal fees either…
She really did not play this smart at all, and that’s on her.
Lesson to all women married to rich men or even not so rich. Prepare a sound exit plan…save money when you can and just please be smarter.
Wait. So we are suddenly bots when we don’t fall all over ourselves to coddle this spoiled, greedy b@tch? It positively blows my mind that people here are feeling sorry for an obviously dumb, gold digging white lady… that’s so antithetical to the Celebitchy I’ve been reading for the last 15 ish years.
This situation is just so incredibly interesting. And I kind of hate to admit that, because this isn’t a movie, there are real people, including children here.
I think it’s hard for me to look at it from a completely logical standpoint because the amount of money involved is so incredibly high.
And there are legal issues, but also ethical issues.
Ethically? Kevin can EASILY buy her a beautiful house in the area they currently live, deposit a million in her bank account per their pre-nup and pay her a healthy amount in child support. He could do all that while paying for all of the kids expenses like activities/medical/dental/higher education, and he’d still have more money than he could spend before he dies. He’s worth 400 million.
But legally he doesn’t have to do all that. I get that.
But he so easily could, it would barely make a dent in his fortune and this could all be over with quickly. I just can’t imagine anyone NOT wanting to just do that.
If he had a lot less money, I could understand. Or if he was much younger. He’s not on is death bed or anything, but 400 million is a LOT of money. He’ll likely die with most of that still just sitting in the bank.
You don’t draw up a prenup without the intention of enforcing it to the letter when the time comes. Christine knew when they got married he was still salty about losing so much in his first divorce. Why her lawyers then didn’t tell her that agreement would not age well, I don’t know. Maybe they did and she was so eager to be Mrs. Costner that she gleefully signed anyway.
As for his fortune, the guy has seven kids. I have no doubts he wants them to be taken care of after he’s gone and feels like any money given to her over and above what is called for in the prenup is money not going to his kids (and money wasted given her documented spending habits).