American actor, Kevin Costner was reportedly ‘blindsided’ after his wife Christine Baumgartner served him with divorce papers at the start of May.
According to sources who spoke to The Sun, the actor thought the two had agreed to a more amicable divorce procedure, in which he would serve her the papers before following the procedure outlined in their prenuptial agreement.
Instead, Christine, 49, who is requesting $248,000 per month in child support payments served him papers the day after he informed their children of the split.
The 68-year-old Yellowstone actor ‘sat his family down, told them he and their mum were getting a divorce and his lawyer was getting the paperwork drawn up,’ a source claimed to the publication.
‘He wanted everything to be peaceful for the sake of his kids and told Christine he didn’t want a messy divorce because he’d already been through one,’ they continued.
But ‘first thing the next morning, boom, Christine sneak attacks him and serves him with her own set of divorce papers.
‘Kevin was so shocked,’ the source added. ‘Christine has since made him look terrible, and has continued to do so.’
However, Baumgartner has previously shared a different version of how their children learned of their impending divorce.
In a court filing obtained earlier this month by People, she claimed that Costner told the three children about the divorce via a Zoom chat while he was in Las Vegas filming on location.
The handbag designer added that she was not present during the Zoom call, and she noted that she was puzzled about why the children had to be told in that way, as Costner would be returning home in a matter of days.
‘I am still confused by his motivation to do this via a very short Zoom session, especially since he was planning on being home five days later,’ she wrote.
She added that she feared the children might learn of the split from an outside source, and she shared research with him that she had done that indicated a unified front with both parents was the best way to announce the divorce to the kids.
However, Baumgartner claimed that Costner was adamant about sharing the information before her and on his own.
‘He disregarded my proposal to do what I felt was right based on research and my relationship with the children. Instead, he insisted that he had the right to tell them that we were getting divorced “first” and tell them privately “without me present,”‘ she claimed.
Costner and his estranged wife share sons Cayden, 15; and Hayes, 14; along with their younger daughter Grace, 13.
He also has four older children from previous relationships. With his ex-wife Cindy Silva, he shares adult children Annie, 39; Lily, 36; and Joe, 35.
He also has a 26-year-old son named Liam from a short-lived relationship with Bridget Rooney.
The latest development in Costner’s newest divorce comes after People reported that Baumgartner was requesting a whopping $248,000 per month in child support payments from the JFK star.
She is also requesting that the actor pay for their private schooling in its entirety, as well as any healthcare and extracurricular costs that may arise.
Baumgartner’s request may be an eye-popping figure to pay monthly, but she claims the amount is less than the children’s lifestyle currently requires.
According to the documents, Costner earned around $19.5 million in 2022, and his family’s expenses were around $6.6 million for the same period, with their net income after expenses and taxes was said to be around $7.6 million.
