JUNE 22, 2023
Between a 1.4-acre beachfront compound, Aspen vacation estate, and large monthly incomes, there are lots at stake in the split
Kevin Costner’s fortune is laid bare in court proceedings as his estranged wife Christine makes a case for financial support post-divorce.
Christine, a former handbag designer who listed herself as unemployed with no income in court documents filed June 16, shares three teenagers with the actor/director: Cayden, 16, Hayes, 14, and Grace, 13.
Meanwhile, Yellowstone star Costner, 68, who also has three adult children from previous relationships, has a gross monthly income of $1,537,000, Christine’s lawyers estimate. In the documents, his 2022 income was listed as $19,517,064 and their family’s expenses, not including taxes, were $6,645,285. The net income, after all expenses and taxes, was $7,595,520
She’s requesting $248,000 per month in child support.
Still, 49-year-old Christine claimed that number is “less than the amount needed to maintain the children in their accustomed lifestyle.” She also asks that Costner pay 100 percent of their private-school tuition, extracurricular activities and sports costs, and health-care expenses.
“Christine has been primarily responsible for raising the children while Kevin has pursued his highly successful career as a motion picture producer, director and actor,” her lawyers write.
“Kevin’s successful career has generated substantial income and wealth, and the children have spent the entirety of their lives enjoying a lifestyle consistent with those circumstances. … Kevin has the ability to continue support the children at a level consistent with his station in life. Christine does not have the financial resources to continue to provide them with a comparable lifestyle while they are in her care without the amount of support that she is requesting.”
The couple married in 2004 — with a prenup in place — a decade after Costner reportedly paid ex-wife Cindy Silva some $80 million in his first divorce.
There’s also the issue of properties. There’s an Aspen vacation estate, and a Santa Barbara compound that consists of a main home and two additional houses across 1.4 acres, with private beach access. It’s the primary residence that Costner claims Christine refuses to move out of, violating the terms of their prenup.
In a previous filing, the Oscar winner said the prenup outlined that she had 30 days to vacate the house after filing for divorce, a deadline that’s since passed given she filed on May 1. (Their date of separation was listed as April 11.)
Christine’s lawyers then fired back in court documents, saying that Costner “seeks to kick Christine and their three children out of the house that the children have lived in for their entire lives,” and that the “legal basis for Kevin’s request to kick his wife and children out of their home is all but nonexistent.”
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A Costner source, however, told PEOPLE, “It’s disingenuous to bring the kids into this. This has nothing to do with the kids. The kids’ foundation is solid. This is all about Christine. Kevin has gone above and beyond in providing Christine the necessary means to find a suitable place for her to move.”
In her recent filing, her lawyers wrote, “Christine understands that at some point in the future, she and the children will have to move out of the family home. She cannot do so at this early stage of the case because she does not have sufficient funding to secure housing that will ensure the children can maintain similar standards of living in the parties’ respective homes.”
Back in November, Costner told PEOPLE that their “house is prettier because of [Christine]. Everything is warmer because of her. There’s these little things that she does — and I think it’s the power of love — but that she makes her home that way.”
The three separate houses on the family compound “have effectively been combined into one large living space,” per Christine’s court filing, with “amenities on the property such as an infinity pool overlooking the beach and ocean, copious outdoor space and accommodations for pets and other animals.”
And in Aspen, they travel there “several times per year” and “enjoyed spending time on the lake in the summer and skiing and driving snowmobiles in the winter,” per the court documents.
A source told PEOPLE this month that Costner gave Christine over $1 million on top of what is required in their prenuptial agreement and offered to help with moving expenses.
Christine addressed this money in her filing, claiming that Costner deposited the $1 million on May 17 into a bank account he set up in her name years ago, but she “cannot access these funds without risk of jeopardizing my legal rights in this case.”
“Kevin is trying to force my concession that the spousal support limitation is valid by virtue of my ‘acceptance’ of these funds. I cannot make this concession, don’t not accept payment, and instructed our accountant … to return the funds to Kevin.”
Courtesy/Source: This article was originally published on People
