After nearly 20 years of marriage, film and television star Kevin Costner and TV personality Christine Baumgartner are going through a divorce. And unfortunately, it's getting a bit nasty. Despite having what Kevin assumed would be a rock-solid prenuptial agreement, a court battle is currently raging over the couple's finances. And a recent court filing from Baumgartner just revealed some very interesting Costner-family financial details…
Let's start with the monthly child support being sought by Baumgartner. She and Kevin have three children together, two sons and a daughter. The children are 16, 14 and 13. To cover her child expenses as a single mom, Baumgartner is requesting…
$248,000 a month
As her filing describes, that amount is so their kids can "live at a standard somewhat approaching the standard that the children will be enjoying while in Kevin's care" while they're with her.
If you're assuming $250,000 must include things like health care, food, clothes and tuition, it does not. Costner is already paying 100% of the kids' day-to-day expenses. So $250,000 per month is an almost entirely-new potential expense for Kevin.
Presumably because he is already covering 100% of his kids' expenses, Kevin has suggested his monthly support to Christine be $38,000 per month.
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Costner's Income and Expenses
Baumgartner's position is that Costner's career is going very well, especially hot off of his leading role on the hit series "Yellowstone," and he can afford everything she's asking for with ease. Her legal filing says his total income in 2022 came to $19.5 million. Specifically $19,517,064. Kevin earns $1.2 million per episode of "Yellowstone." It's beleived that he filmed 8 episodes in 2022. That works out to a bit under $10 million of that $19.5 million. As for his other income, Kevin earned $2.3 million in rent from his Aspen ranch and $503,000 renting a beachfront property in Carpinteria, California.
The filing estimated total "family expenses" at $6.5 million. Specifically, $6,645,285.
Here's a breakdown of how the Costner family spent $6 million in 2022 according to a court filing:
- Aspen House Costs: $1,964,294.95
- Beach House Costs: $1,178,147.16
- Gifts: $830,504.51
- Gardener: $542,303.47
- Beach Club Costs: $288,381.24
- Household Help: $84,040.78
- Golf & Club Dues: $34,434.90
- Boat Expenses: $25,806.45
- Spa Service: $21,807.67
- Personal Trainer: $12,851.58
Total Expenses: $5,982,772.71
When you take the full yearly expense estimate of $6,654,285, and divide it by 12 you get $553,000. Put that way, the Costner family spent $553,000 PER MONTH in 2022 to keep their family machine running.
Christine is very aware of the $553,000 figure. In fact she has even gone so far as to position her $250,000 monthly request as a bargain. How? Because she claims her "share" of the family expenses with the three kids would be 60% of the $553,000 figure. That would technically come to $332,000 if they were splitting it along that math. So from her perspective, asking for $248,000 is actually saving Kevin $84,000 per month.
From the filing:
"As set forth above, the amount needed to maintain the children's current lifestyle is $332,264 per month, which is 60 percent of what our family spent."
She talks about vacations:
"In addition to our beachfront compound, our family travels several times per year… We vacation in the Caribbean and Hawaii, and travel to Aspen several times per year, usually during the winter and summer. We typically host family and friends on our trips."
And reveals something astounding about their Aspen property:
"Spanning 160-acres, the Aspen estate is truly unique. It is located approximately 10 minutes from the Aspen town center and is surrounded by a national forest that cannot be developed.
It has several homes and structures on it, each with extensive custom features. It rents for $250,000 per week during the high season. The property has two large lakes and is equipped with a dozen ATVs and snowmobiles which the children enjoy riding.
Kevin told me that he was once offered $250 million for the property. Under any circumstances, it is an extraordinarily valuable asset."
Costner's SECOND Expensive Divorce
Unfortunately this is not Kevin's first foray into extremely expensive divorces. Kevin and his first wife Cindy were married from 1978 to 1994. They have three adult children together (he has seven children including three from Christine and one from another relationship).
When Kevin and Cindy divorced in 1994 he was at his absolute peak of fame. He paid her half of his net worth at the time, $80 million. After adjusting for inflation, that's the same as paying a $160 million settlement in today's dollars.
