Kevin Costner’s wife fears the Yellowstone star is ‘out to get revenge’ on her after he filed for divorce, sources have told DailyMail.com.
‘He wants to insult her,’ says a close friend of Christine Baumgartner. ‘It’s not about the house, it’s about making Christine’s life a living hell to get through the divorce.’
The 49-year-old handbag designer has until the end of the month to vacate the $145 million Santa Barbara mansion she and the 68-year-old actor and director previously shared.
‘Christine said she wouldn’t be surprised if Kevin left the property with the police,’ says the friend. ‘It was Christine who wanted to make this transition as peaceful as possible for the sake of the children.
‘Kevin did the complete opposite. He’s not thinking about the kids, how traumatizing it is.’
A close friend of Christine Baumgartner has told DailyMail.com that Kevin Costner wants to make her life ‘a living hell to get through the divorce’.
The 49-year-old handbag designer has until the end of the month to vacate the $145 million Santa Barbara mansion she and the 68-year-old actor and director share.
Baumgartner filed to end the 18-year marriage in May. The couple dated for six years before tying the knot at the star’s home in Aspen, Colorado in 2004, shortly after he and first wife Cindy Silva divorced.
Baumgartner agreed to leave the family home, but only on his own terms.
He previously said in court filings that he would leave the estate on August 31, after the results of a court date originally scheduled for July 12.
The couple’s prenup states that Baumgartner has a month to vacate the premises if one files for divorce.
Although he appears to have missed the original deadline, the judge set a new deadline of July 31 for his removal.
Baumgartner said Costner is asking the court to ‘kick him and the kids out of the family home.’
Costner said he would pay her $30,000 a month to rent out a property of his choice and use $10,000 and all of his staff for the move.
But Baumgartner’s friend said: ‘Kevin knows it’s going to cost a lot more than what he offered Christine to find a suitable place to rent in the Padaro Lane community.
He could make it easy. He could have offered an amount that made it viable to continue living in the community, but he chose to punish her.’
Costner was not only the primary earner, but the only person making money recently.
Baumgartner said he had ‘no income, no earning capacity and no accessible assets other than about $50,000.’
A judge ruled that Baumgartner must be out of the house by the end of July
The couple is seen with their son Caden, 15; Hayes, 14; and daughter Grace, 13, in 2019
Costner is represented by top divorce attorney Laura Wasser, who served as the inspiration for Laura Dern’s role as a lawyer in Noah Baumbach’s critically acclaimed film Marriage Story, which earned Dern an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Wasser has defended the validity of the prenuptial agreement in court, and it appears the judge is willing to agree with him, even though it’s still not a done deal.
A hearing on the document’s validity will not take place until November, and Baumgartner is expected to continue to challenge it.
The judge may have chosen to follow the document’s provisions before considering them more fully at a later date, but Costner’s initial move to kick the ex out of the house suggests the judge may agree that the rest of the document is valid.
Baumgartner will also be forced to pay back the $1.5 million given to Costner if the judge rules that the prenup is valid, and will also reportedly be forced to pay his attorneys’ fees to protect the document.
Baumgartner previously wrote in court filings that she was hesitant to leave her home without a plan and funds in place, if only for her children, whom she didn’t want to move multiple times.
Costner was not only the primary earner, but the only person earning money recently, and Baumgartner said in his filing that he had no income.
She claimed that ‘Kevin wants to hire me [a] place without [a] Financial planning in place. however, [I] We have three children to think about. It is against their best interest to commit to rent [I] May not be able to afford, especially since it will eventually lead to multiple transfers.
‘My goal was to maintain as much stability as possible for our children, including having the proper resources and plans in place so that [I] can establish [a] Stable homes for them instead of temporary and inconsistent housing arrangements,’ he continued.
The Yellowstone star was on the hook to help his estranged wife relocate per their prenuptial agreement, but that was a relatively small amount for their lifestyle.
Costner would have paid her $1.5 million to find a new home, but with California’s high home prices — especially if she tries to live near Costner — she may have trouble finding anything resembling the luxury she and her children are accustomed to.
Costner deposited $1.5 million into Baumgartner’s bank account so he could move her out of his mansion, and she said he gave her $200,000 per their prenuptial agreement.
However, Baumgartner didn’t touch the money, because he says doing so would take away his ability to contest the legality of the pre-up.