Kevin Costner scores victory against ex Christine Baumgartner after judge reduces child support to $63K
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Kevin Costner has won a huge victory in his divorce case with his estranged wife, Christine Baumgartner after a Santa Barbara judge reduced her child support payments to $63,209 per month.
She had requested for $161,592 after initially asking for $175,057 per People. It's also less than half of the $129,755 she presently receives based on a tentative ruling.
After a two-day evidentiary hearing during which both parties presented their arguments for what they considered to be a "reasonable" level of child support, the decision was made. Costner declared that the brutal fight had "no winners" after the decision.
What did Kevin Costner say about the divorce?
He told Fox News Digital, "You know when you have a life that long with somebody, there is no winner...and it's this big, crazy thing called life and how it unravels so quickly."
He added, "One minute you feel like you're on top of the world, and then you realize how, you know, how vulnerable you are."
He commended Baumgartner as a mother and promised to come to a fair custody agreement with her finally.
He said, "She's an incredible mom. We will figure it out, and we'll share. We just got to kind of convalesce right now.
During the last hour of the hearing, Costner returned to the witness stand and expressed to the court his greatest concern: if Baumgartner were to receive an "inflated" amount of child support, he would be obliged to accept jobs he didn't want.
In addition, he expressed regret to his ex-wife, saying, "I want to help, but the thought of having things inflated to the point I can't do what I want to do...," per Daily Mail.
He added, "Somehow, in this unusual world, we didn't make it, and for that, I'm sorry."
The prenuptial agreement and her request for spousal support will be the subject of a trial in November.
Baumgartner's side, who had won a victory of their own in June when child support was temporarily fixed at $129,000, requested the hearing.
Why did the judge overturn ruling of $129,000 child support to Christine Baumgartner?
Judge Thomas Anderle, however, overruled that decision, finding that the three Costner children would not "reasonably need" the $161,000 in child support she had requested, as reported by Daily Mail.
She had argued that the children should spend time with her at a $150,000 per month home she planned to rent, which was located beside a beach, once her six-month lease was up because her new $40,000 per month home was not "comparable" to Costner's $73 million beachside pad.
Baumgartner also bemoaned the lack of an ocean view on her new property and the fact that the style of life there did not match that of her marital home.
Will Christine Baumgartner get Kevin Costner's beach house?
Since she signed a prenuptial agreement that provided for a single lump sum payment of $1.5 million, which she has already received, relocation back to the beach is now doubtful unless she prevails in a second trial in November.
When told of the verdict, Baumgartner sprang up and promptly consulted with her legal team, while Costner appeared surprised. Both left the court through a back door.
The momentous decision was rendered at the end of a day when Costner spoke twice, once as a witness for his wife and once for himself.