She's also requesting $248,000 per month in child support for their three minor children.
Kevin Costner's estranged wife claims she was not the driving force behind the 68-year-old actor leaving Yellowstone. According to new court documents filed in the Superior Court of California in Santa Barbara County and obtained by ET, Christine brings up Kevin's exit from the Paramount hit show while explaining "our separation."
"I have avoided being public about the reasons for our divorce," Christine says in the court documents. "I have done this to protect our family's privacy. I did not pressure Kevin to leave the Yellowstone show. Kevin's public attacks on me are harmful for our family. I believe they are meant to pressure me to move out without a temporary child support agreement in place."
It's unclear why Christine felt it necessary to underscore that she's not to blame for Kevin's Yellowstone exit, considering the actor's shocking Yellowstone exit has largely been based on a schedule conflict and nobody has blamed Christine for that development, at least not publicly.
Nevertheless, in her latest court filing, Christine also claims that she wanted to tell their three children -- son, Cayden, 13, son Hayes, 14, and daughter, Grace, 13 -- about the divorce together, but alleged that Kevin scoffed at the suggestion and went about it in his own way and, more importantly, on his own.
"The children's welfare has always been my highest priority, and I was concerned they would find out about the divorce before Kevin and I could tell them. It was important for me that we tell the children in person and together. I explained this to Kevin and shared several articles about the importance of talking to the children as a united front," Christine says in court documents. "I requested that we do this as soon as possible so they would not hear from an outside source. He disregarded my proposal to do what I felt was right based on research and my relationship with the children. Instead, he insisted that he had the right to tell them that we were getting divorced 'first' and tell them privately 'without me present.'"
"After a 24-year relationship, from his hotel room in Las Vegas, Kevin told our three children that we were getting divorced over a 10-minute Zoom call without me present," Christine claims. "I am still confused by his motivation to do this via a very short Zoom session, especially since he was planning on being home five days later. He also could have easily come home from Las Vegas to have the conversation in person."
Christine, who said she met Kevin on a golf course when she was 18 and started dating him some six years later before getting married in 2004 at his second home in Aspen, Colorado, claims she's the children's primary caretaker and "decided to focus on raising our family" after their first child was born.
What's more, she claims that during the marriage she "encouraged Kevin to wear many hats and live his dreams, even if that meant spending time away from our family. I encouraged him to reconnect with his former bandmates from college and to start a new band. He became a singer/songwriter and toured for weeks at a time in many countries. He became an investor in several companies, some of which were through my connections. Despite all of Kevin’s commitments, I made sure to always keep him and the children connected as much as possible. I never questioned the time or commitment it took for him to do what he loved."
Christine went on to claim that Kevin's income from all sources in calendar year 2022 was $19,517,064.32. Christine, who filed for divorce in May after nearly two decades of marriage, is requesting that Kevin pony up $248,000 per month in child support effective July 1.
Christine says she does not have an income, other than a bank account with $50,000 before getting married. She also mentions a bank account under her name with $1,400,000. She claims Kevin set up that account in May 2017 without her knowledge or consent and that Kevin is "trying to 'force her concession' that the spousal support limitation is valid by virtue of my 'acceptance' of these funds."
She claims that she "cannot make this concession" and that she does "not accept payment." Furthermore, she claims she "instructed our accountant to return the funds to Kevin (who ignored her instructions)."
Christine says she has devoted her time "primarily to caring for our children and managing our household projects and staff." She says "the children are very attached to me and are accustomed to my hands-on involvement in their daily lives." Christine goes on to say she does "most of the driving, cook many meals for (and with) them, help with homework, get them signed up for and to many extracurricular activities."
Just last month, Kevin filed court documents claiming Christine will not move out of their Southern California home, despite a prenup stipulation that requires her to do so.
Christine later filed her own court filing and requested more time to respond to Kevin's demand that she relocate. In her docs, Christine's lawyer claims there is no legal basis for her and her children's removal from the home and asks the court for an extension as they get her case in order.
According to Kevin's filing, in the prenup, which was signed when they tied the knot in 2004, Christine agreed that, in the event of a divorce, Kevin would have exclusive possession and use of his separate property residences, and that she would vacate any separate property family residence she was living in within 30 days of the filing of a divorce petition.
In her latest court filing, Christine says she has "been willing to move out of the family home, but I cannot do so without support from Kevin." She added, "Kevin has continued to pay all of our expenses since separation. However, he has done a number of things to make it more difficult for me to pay for things, and there is no guarantee he will continue to pay these expenses going forward. Thus far, Kevin has not been willing to commit to paying an appropriate amount of child support."
Christine says it is her "desire to set up a suitable separate household that is at least somewhat commensurate with the children’s accustomed lifestyle."
A hearing on her child support request has been set for next month.
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