American actor, Kevin Costner’s estranged wife Christine Baumgartner has been awarded six-digit monthly payments in child support after a judge ruled on a tentative child support arrangement.
The 68-year-old Yellowstone will pay his estranged wife Christine Baumgartner, 49, a whopping $129,755 per month in child support payments.
The figure is more than double what Costner had originally offered his ex, and also only a little over half of what she had been asking for.
The decision is only tentative and will be reassessed at a later hearing, according to court documents obtained by Fox News.
The decision comes after Baumgartner was ordered to vacate Costner’s mansion by July 31.
The details of the couples’ prenuptial agreement reportedly required her to move out within 30 days of either party filing for a divorce, a deadline she had missed after she was the first to file.
She previously said in court filings that she would leave the estate on August 31, following the results of a court date originally scheduled for July 12, though it is unclear if that hearing is still on the books.
In the documents, Baumgartner agreed to vacate the premises at the end of August as long as Costner complied ‘with whatever support and fee orders that the court makes on July 12,’ according to TMZ.
The latest decision stipulates that both Costner and his ex with split their children’s healthcare costs 50–50.
The former couple share three children: sons Cayden, 16; and Hayes, 14; along with their younger daughter Grace, 13.
They will also be splitting expenses down the middle for the kids’ pricy private school tuition, as well as their extracurricular activities, which includes sports.
Baumgartner had been to avoid paying those expenses altogether, as she previously requested in filings that her ex cover them completely.
For the $129,755 figure, both Costner and Baumgartner will have a chance to challenge it at a future hearing in hopes of pushing it closer to their desired support amount.
However, TMZ notes that the final figure rarely changes much from the initial determination.
Costner also incurred additional expenses after the judge ordered him to pay $200,000 for his estranged wife’s attorney fees, along with an additional $100,000 for forensic costs.
The Waterworld star’s forensic accountant previously claimed that Baumgartner had spent more than $100,000 on cosmetic procedures, and that those past costs were factored into the amount ($248K) that she was requesting for child support.
His payments will have to be due on the first of every month, though he will be credited for any payments he has already made since the start of July.
Baumgartner had also requested that the court order Costner to make the payments go out via an automatic transfer, presumably to ensure that they could not be late, though that request was denied.
A hearing to address the document’s validity won’t happen until November, and Baumgartner is expected to continue challenging it.
The judge has opted to follow the document’s provisions before considering it more fully at the later date, but the preliminary move to get Costner’s ex out of the house indicates that he may agree that the rest of the document is also valid.
TMZ previously reported that Baumgartner will also be forced to return $1.5 million paid to her by Costner if the judge determines that the prenup is valid, and she will also reportedly be forced to pay his attorneys’ fees for defending the document.
