Kevin Costneris taking the stand in a hearing over child support amid his divorce from wifeChristine.
TheYellowstoneactor, 68, testified Friday in court in Santa Barbara, California, during the second day of a hearing that was set to address Christine’srequest for $175,057 per monthin child support — a $46,000-plus increase from the $129,000 she’s currently receiving from Costner.
On the stand, Costner was asked whether his Santa Barbara compound and Christine’s new $40,000 rental home are “fair.” Costner said that he believes the two properties “are comparable” but “I don’t believe they are equal.”
“I think I know what fair means," he added.
During Costner’s testimony, Christine, 49, did not make eye contact with the actor, looking down or at her lawyer and not reacting when he called her his wife. (Shefiled for divorcein May.)
After viewing numbers on a monthly expense report, theOscarwinner asked, “Is this after the date she left me?”, referring to Christine.
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Kevin and Christine Costner on Nov. 8, 2014, in Hollywood, California.Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic
TheField of Dreamsstar was also asked how the children generally use their Santa Barbara compound, saying sons Cayden, 16, and Hayes, 14, plus daughter Grace, 13 “predominantly play in the driveway that Christine made beautiful for them.”
Asked whether he’d himself live in the $40,000-a-month property Christine is currently renting, the actor said, “No, I would not, but that’s not because it’s not comparable,” adding of his current home, “Iraised three childrenin that house. It’s a beach house. Their hands are in the stone.”
“I’d like some features of that home, to be quite honest," he noted of his ex’s rental.
Kevin Costner at a pre-Grammys event on Feb 4, 2023, in Beverly Hills, California; Christine Costner at the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 30th Annual Academy Awards Viewing Party on March 27, 2022, in West Hollywood, California.Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Costner’s turn to testify comes one day after Christine did so. On Thursday, Christine’s attorney John Rydell said that the lifestyle Christine and Costner’s three children have grown accustomed to is “in their DNA at this point.”
On the stand, Christine explained how a decrease in financial status would affect their kids. She said in part their children are “very connected to the ocean — it’s their home,” and noted the surf garage is 50 steps from “toes in the water."
Christine is currently receiving $129,000 inmonthly child supportfor the couple’s children, after filing for divorce. The couple wasmarried for 18 years.
David Fisher/Shutterstock (2)
Kevin and Christine Costner with their kids in Los Angeles on Aug. 1 ,2019.Albert L. Ortega/Getty
Additionally, per those legal documents, Costner’s “various accounts and entities had a total of $17,293,117 in cash equivalents as of June 30, 2023, giving him ample funds to pay his support and also to pay the attorneys’ fees and costs for both parties.”
According to those court documents,“$175,057 per monthwill not be sufficient to replicate Kevin’s lifestyle, but it will be sufficient to allow her to provide a lifestyle for the children which is relatively comparable.”
Should the request be granted, the order would be “made retroactive to July 1," according to the court filing.
The documents added, “The Court is required to set child support at a level that, when the children are with Christine, they live a lifestyle relatively comparable to the one they enjoy when they are with their father."
source: people.com
