Kevin Costner and Christine Costner are divorcing after 18 years of marriage.Photo:Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Christine Costnerfeels “relieved” after the latest court hearing regarding her divorce fromKevin Costner, a source tells PEOPLE.
On Wednesday, the California Superior Court judge presiding over the caseextended the actor’s temporary child support paymentsof $129,755 per month.
The judge also denied theYellowstonestar’s lawyers' request to settle the matter of child support before the trial date to determine the validity ofchallenging the couple’s prenuptial agreementon Nov. 27.
Christine, 49, sharessons Cayden, 16, and Hayes, 14, and daughter Grace, 13, with Kevin, 68.
She “only wants to take care of and support her children,” says the source. “The divorce is not their fault. She doesn’t want them to suffer, or experience negative life changes because of it.”
Still, the source says, “It’s all stressful for Christine, but she is trying to stay positive.”
The former handbag designer hadpreviously requested $248,000 per monthfor child support, an amount Costner’s side slammed as “inflated.”
Under the terms of the former couple’s prenuptial agreement, Christine must move out of the Santa Barbara, California, estate — worth an estimated $145 million — where she and Kevin raised their children. She claimed she needed the sum to set up a “suitable separate household.”
The judge, Thomas Anderle, previously ruled that Christine would temporarily receive far less: $129,755 per month, and he extended that amount for the time being at Wednesday’s hearing.
The ruling, however, is retroactive, meaning that child support will have to be paid forward or back dating back to July 1 if changes are made in the final ruling of the case.
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Christine was present for the hearing, butKevin did not attend, as he had a pre-planned vacation to British Columbia with his children.
The Costners’ legal teams will be back in court on Aug. 2 for a hearing on the estranged couple’s prenuptial agreement.Kevin has asked the court that Christine pay $99,225 in legal feeshe incurred for litigating their prenuptial agreement.
“If Christine, in any manner, challenges or assists in the challenge of the validity or enforceability of any provision of this Agreement, she shall lose any and all rights to receive any payment, Property or Interest from Kevin pursuant to this Agreement,” according to the agreement, which attorneys for the Oscar winner quoted in legal documents filed June 28.
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Marilyn Chinitz, a matrimonial attorney at Blank Rome in New York (she does not represent either of the Costners)told PEOPLE at the time that such clauses in prenuptial agreements are fairly routine. “Attorneys call these provisions ‘in torrerem’ because it is a clause to instill fear. They are incentivizing someone from challenging the agreement.”
source: people.com
