Celebrity News September 12, 2023
Kevin Costner Calls Ex Christine Baumgartner’s Latest $885K Request ‘Outrageous’
Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner continue to duke it out in court!
In a court document obtained by People magazine, Costner is biting back at Baumgartner’s request to have him pay $885,000 towards her legal fees.
His legal team called the request “unreasonable” and “nothing short of outrageous.”
According to docs, Christine has already received “$405,000 in fees, including an award of $300,000 in legal fees ($200,000 in attorney’s fees and $100,000 in forensic accounting fees) on July 12" and "remov(ed) $105,000 for fees from Kevin’s accounts."
The filing argued, “The Family Code requires the Court to assess whether the fees incurred and prospective fees are reasonably necessary. Although Kevin is the wealthier party with a higher cash flow than Christine, Christine is quite capable of contributing to her own attorneys’ fees.”
“Christine’s argument that Kevin has incurred more in fees than she was awarded and what she took from his accounts is not, standing alone, a valid basis for an award of additional fees to her,” his legal team went on. “The amount Kevin has incurred cannot be the talisman of how much Christine should be awarded in fees.”
His legal team argued that Costner “has been forced to spend substantial attorney’s fees as a result of Christine’s uncooperative conduct… Christine’s actions increased the fees incurred by not only Christine, but also Kevin. To use these fees as the basis for an argument that Christine needs more to level the playing field is nonsensical."
Last week, a judge ordered Christine to pay Keivn’s legal fees of $14,237.50.
Kevin Costner’s Ex Forced to Pay $14K of His Legal Fees
View StoryIn August, Kevin’s famed attorney Laura Wasser asked Christine if she understood the prenup that she signed. The question is significant since it appears Christine will be contesting the prenup.
In court docs, there was some back-and-forth between Kevin and Christine’s legal teams about the word “understood,” which resulted in the $14,000-plus legal charge.
Costner recently got his wish to pay $63,209 a month in child support to Christine, who had asked for $161,592.
Christine, who is living in a $40,000-per-month rental, recently testified that she’ll learn how to support herself financially in the future. She told the court, “I will look into the steps I need to take and any schooling I need to do, and I will enter the workforce.”
Kevin said, “I have to take care of obligations that are already in place. I have a lot of responsibilities I have to take care of.”
He went on, “I need to figure out how I’m going to spend more time with the children, walk them through this process. I am going to need to take some time for myself... I have a lot to contemplate — what I have to do versus what I want to do.”
Baumgartner filed for divorce in May after 18 years of marriage.