Kevin Costner and his estranged wife, Christine, are in court for child support.
On Thursday, the exes were seen arriving at a courthouse in Santa Barbara, California, to handle Christine’s $175,057 monthly child support claim; That’s $46,000 plus an increase from the $129,000 Christine is currently receiving. Saritas star, 68.
In her keynote speech on Thursday, Christine’s attorney, John Rydell, said they would reduce that claim amount to $161,592 a month, according to the forensic accountant’s latest assessment. The new amount is higher than the $60,000 monthly offer that Costner’s lawyers put forward during the trial.
Christine, 49, shares three children with Costner: sons Cayden (16) and Hayes (14) and daughter Grace (13). After 18 years of marriage, she filed for divorce on May 1 and has since left the family home. A source said he filed a court order with PEOPLE in July.
Christine’s legal file, obtained by PEOPLE on August 26, reads: “Forensics found that: [Kevin’s] In the two-year period between 2021 and 2022, the average cash flow available for support was $19,248,467 per year ($1,604,039 per month).
The documents continued: “Based on this cash flow and 50/50 parenting time-sharing, the probably correct guideline child support under California law is $175,057 per month.”
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At Thursday’s hearing, Rydell listed all the sports they did and the homes the family owned, saying it was “in their DNA at this point” to live a life of luxury, referring to children.
Christine also skimmed through the evidential photographs and suffocated as she told the court: “It’s so much more than that; it’s an experience.”
“We’ve created a pretty big community,” he added, calling every vacant part of the Santa Barbara campus “our” over and over. pool and two guest houses.
“We create everything we can imagine here,” said the mother of three, referring to the “surf garage” where the house also contains handicrafts.
Christine added that her children are “so connected to the ocean, this is their home,” and noted that the surf garage is 50 feet from their “toes in the water.”
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The court document obtained by PEOPLE prior to the hearing further stated: “Christine is bringing this request to support these Family Law principles and to ensure that the parties’ three minors continue to enjoy the lifestyle made possible. Thanks to Kevin’s considerable earnings and wealth.”
Additionally, according to these legal documents, Costner’s “various accounts and organizations had a total cash equivalent of $17,293,117 as of June 30, 2023, giving him sufficient funds to pay for his support as well as pay attorney’s fees and costs for both parties. ”
According to these court documents, “$175,057 per month won’t be enough to replicate Kevin’s lifestyle, but it will be enough to enable him to lead a relatively similar lifestyle to children.”
If the request is accepted, the order will “apply retroactively until 1 July.” According to the documents, “the Court needs to adjust child support at a level that allows the children to live a lifestyle with Christine that is relatively similar to the one they had when they were with their father.”
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Costner’s representative, in a statement announcing the split, stated: “It is with great regret that circumstances beyond his control have emerged that resulted in Mr. Costner being forced to participate in the dissolution lawsuit.”
Christine was entitled to a $1.5 million payment under the terms of her prenuptial agreement, which she claimed had previously felt “pressured” to sign.
Costner was photographed getting off a private plane after landing at his home in Santa Barbara earlier this week after a trip to Glasgow, Scotland.
As for Christine, a source told PEOPLE in July that she is “focused on making sure everyone is as happy and relaxed as possible.” “He was very calm and focused on expression. It didn’t seem to bother him.”