Topics: Celebrity, Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner’s estranged wife Christine Baumgartner isn’t giving up with her legal battle after losing the child support ruling, according to legal documents.
Back in May, it was announced that Costner and Baumgartner were splitting up after 18 years of marriage, with a representative for the Yellowstone star saying the divorce was due to 'circumstances beyond his control'.
They share three teenage children together: Cayden, 15, Hayes, 14, and 13-year-old Grace.
Since news of the break-up, the former couple have been locked in a bitter legal battle about how much financial support Baumgartner is entitled to.
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Earlier this month, a judge slashed the child support that Costner had to pay to $63,000 per month – less than half of what Baumgartner had been receiving previously, and almost $100,000 less than the $161,000 she had been seeking in court.
Baumgartner is now requesting $885,000 to cover legal fees and costs – although Costner’s attorney has claimed she’s already received a large sum.
Legal documents obtained by the Daily Mail show that Baumgartner has so far received $405,000 in legal, attorney, and 'forensic accounting fees', which were disbursed in July.
She is now asking for $575,000 to pay her lawyers John Rydell and Susan Wiesner and another $280,000 for her forensic accountant Jill Bombino.
Costner’s attorney Laura Wasser has hit back at the ‘whopping’ request in a legal filing lodged on Tuesday in court in Santa Barbara, California.
“After receiving $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 removing $105,000 for fees from Kevin's accounts, Christine is back requesting another fee award,” Wasser said in the filing.
“This time, she requests a whopping award of $885,000 ($575,000 in attorney's fees and $280,000 in expert costs) just to prepare for the November/December bifurcated trial on one issue -- whether the spousal support waiver in the parties' Premarital Agreement ('PMA') is unconscionable as of today.
“When the numbers are so large, it is easy to lose perspective of the actual value of these numbers.”
Wasser claimed Baumgartner would be paying her attorneys at an eye-watering rate of $800-an-hour.
She added: “Although Kevin is the wealthier party with higher cash flow than Christine, Christine is quite capable of contributing towards her own attorneys' fees.
“Further, Kevin's wealth and cash flow does not provide Christine and her attorneys carte blanche to take unreasonable positions, fail to make any real effort to resolve disputed issues and thereafter litigate those unreasonable positions.”
