Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner’s divorce is still on-going. The last major update is that the child support issue is now settled, with Costner ordered to pay Christine $63K a month in child support, which is about a third of what she asked for and nowhere near enough to provide their three children with a comparable lifestyle. It’s not looking good for Christine’s attempt to nullify the prenup, and the hearing/trial for that comes up in a few months. I’ve said for a while that the old-fart judge seems to be blatantly on Costner’s side about everything, and last week, the judge explained his child support ruling, and I want you to read some of it:
Judge Thomas P. Anderle, in a Tuesday court filing obtained by PEOPLE, recapped the proceedings and explained that he found Christine “credible” in her Thursday testimony, with “good courtroom demeanor.” However, while the judge “did not perceive there was any intention by [Christine] to mislead the Court,” her testimony “was not much help on the issue before the bench today; will weigh her testimony with all the evidence in this case.”
About Kevin, Anderle wrote that he “recognizes he is professional actor” and “weighed that in the decision-making process when judging his credibility.”
The judge “did not find he embellished any of his testimony by relying on his profession; his testimony was straightforward; there was ‘no acting’; found his testimony to be credible and consistent.” Anderle added that “both sides made strong closing arguments.”
In regards to the ruling, Anderle said the “reasonable needs of the children are fully met by this child support order” and anything “greater than $63,209 per month” would be “disguised spousal support.”
He added: “Christine will have her opportunity to convince the Court that she is entitled to spousal support. That is not the issue at hand for this hearing.”
The judge was considering how much he “believed” Costner and Baumgartner rather than following the law or the financials. Christine’s child support request wasn’t a number plucked out of the air – she hired a forensic accountant and based her request on Costner’s annual income and wealth. The judge was like “sure, she was likable but I just don’t think she should get that much money.” Well, clearly, Costner and his lawyers understand that this judge will take his side on every issue, so as I predicted, Costner is now fighting Christine over her legal costs.
Kevin Costner’s lawyer skewered Christine Baumgartner’s request for the actor to pay his estranged wife an alleged $885,000 in legal fees. After Baumgartner’s legal team claimed she will be charged the staggering sum to argue her case against the former couple’s prenuptial agreement, Costner’s high-powered attorney Laura Wasser argued in a new filing that the fee in question would be absurd, according to TMZ.
Wasser reportedly argued that, based on hourly rates, Baumgartner’s legal team would have to put in 1,106 hours of billable work hours to justify charging her that amount.
The legal eagle dubbed Baumgartner’s request for Costner to cover her steep legal bill as “nothing short of outrageous,” noting that the judge already deemed their prenup enforceable.
Wasser also alleged that Baumgartner has no leg to stand on and should just throw in the towel.
The way this ends is that the judge upholds the prenup, Christine gets zero alimony, the judge sides with Costner on everything, and Christine only gets the $1 million payout from the prenup. Then Christine will be ordered to pay her legal fees and Costner’s legal fees, which will not only wipe out the $1 million, but leave her in debt. Then the bot farm hired by Costner will flood social media and blog comments and say that she deserved it and that she’s not being financially abused.
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