Judge orders Kevin Costner's estranged wife to move out by the end of the month despite her complaints about the Santa Barbara, California, rental market
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- Kevin Costner scored an early legal victory in his divorce case with his estranged spouse.
- Christine Baumgartner has been ordered to move out of the Santa Barbara compound by the end of July.
- Baumgartner requested a delay until August 15 because of child support and rental-market concerns.
Kevin Costner's estranged wife has been ordered to move out of their shared home by the end of July in an early legal victory for the "Yellowstone" actor amid an acrimonious divorce battle.
At a hearing in Santa Barbara, California, on Wednesday, Judge Thomas Anderle ordered Christine Baumgartner to move out of their shared compound by the end of July and rejected her request to delay the move until August 15.
Baumgartner's attorneys said their client needed extra time because of the oversaturation of the Santa Barbara rental market and the "extreme disparity" in the child-support amount offered by Costner compared to the amount Baumgartner requested.
Cotner appeared virtually at the hearing, and Baumgartner appeared in-person while wearing a modest long-sleeve patterned pink blouse, black slacks, and open-toe kitten heels with her hair half back.
The couple were married for nearly 20 years before Baumgartner filed for divorce in May because of irreconcilable differences.
Throughout the last few weeks in the acrimonious case, Baumgartner accused Costner of lowballing her with a $30,000 a month child-support offer and leaving her with limited funds as a stay-at-home mom with no income by canceling a credit card. In filings this week, Costner said he imposed the limits after Baumgartner used the cards to spend $45,000 for a Los Angeles-based lawyer and $40,000 for her Santa Barbara-based attorneys without his knowledge.
They share three children, Cayden, 16; Hayes, 14; and Grace, 13. In court documents, Baumgartner said she needed $248,000 a month to support the luxe life their children were accustomed to.
According to Zillow, the median rent in Santa Barbara is $6,200, with less than 300 available rentals. By comparison, the median rent in California is $2,900, per Zillow.
In previous filings, Baumgartner said she had no assets other than $50,000 in her checking account. Baumgartner said that Costner made $19 million last year and that he had covered the family's $6.6 million expenses.
After Baumgartner filed for divorce last month, Costner filed a motion to evict her from their marital home, citing a clause in their prenuptial agreement that he said gave her 30 days to move out after divorce proceedings began.
The "Yellowstone" actor said that he paid his estranged spouse $1 million for a new house and that he had offered to pay the mortgage, insurance, and taxes for a year, per court documents.
Baumgartner accused Costner of trying to move her and the children out of the house before a child-support order was in place. Costner denied this.
"Kevin wants me to rent a place without a financial plan in place," Baumgartner said in a June 28 declaration. "However, I have our three children to think about. It is contrary to their best interests to commit to a rental that I may not be able to afford, particularly as that would ultimately lead to multiple relocations."
Correction: July 6, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misstated Cayden Costner's age. He is 16, not 14.