Star of the hit Paramount series “Yellowstone,” Kevin Costner, breathed a heavy sigh of relief after winning a divorce from his estranged wife, who sought an increase in the child support payments that Costner was making monthly. While it may be small pennies for an A-List actor like Costner, the man who plays John Dutton on The Yellowstone Ranch will no doubt be sleeping a bit better this evening.
Judge Thomas Anderle sided with Costner, ruling that monthly payments would remain at the already lofty sum of $63,209 after Costner was asked to pay $129,755 in July as the two sides duked it out in court. In June, Christine Baumgartner, Costner’s estranged wife, asked that the payments be increased to a whopping $248,000 every month.
Fox News offered a report on the story and noted that Costner had a prenup put in place at the start of the marriage to help protect him from this very thing. He said, “The last thing I wanted was to not be able to come home to my home with my children. We did a prenup.”
Costner wasn’t completely in the clear, however, as the hefty child support payments that were requested by his estranged wife could have spelled financial disaster for him. “My biggest concern now is that the court orders me to pay child support so much so that … I run out of cash.”
Costner also talked about the weight of the divorce and what it had done to his psyche. He said, “So, there’s a few things I have to do with this seismic change. There’s a few responsibilities I can’t run away from. Mostly what I have to do is figure out how to spend more time with the children and help walk them through this … spend a little time with myself.”
Costner and his family will be in the thoughts and prayers of all of those who work at The American Tribune as he and his estranged wife and their children continue to grasp what life will look like in a split-parent home. This situation is far from ideal for anyone, and despite the victory in court today, Costner was not celebratory about the result.
He said, “You know, when you have a life that long with somebody, there is no winner…and it’s this big, crazy thing called life and how it unravels so quickly. One minute you feel like you’re on top of the world, and then you realize how, you know, how vulnerable you are.”
He and Christine are both no doubt experiencing a rush of emotions from going to battle with the person who was meant to be by their side forever. And while it is clear that there will be a winner and a loser at the end of these proceedings from a financial standpoint, there seems to be no indication that either of them views themselves as winners in the divorce.
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