Entertainment- Christine Baumgartner last month filed for divorce from Kevin Costner.
- Costner told a judge that she refused to leave his home, despite agreeing to in their prenup.
Kevin Costner's estranged wife has hit back at the veteran actor's allegations that she refused to leave their marital home.
Through her lawyers, Christine Baumgartner accused the "Yellowstone" actor of having no legal basis for trying to kick her and their children out of the only home that the kids had ever known.
"This RFO (request for order) seeks to kick Christine and their three children out of the house that the children have lived in for their entire lives," John Rydell, Baumgartner's lawyer, wrote in a court document obtained by Insider.
"Although the legal basis for Kevin's request to kick his wife and children out of their home is all but nonexistent, this is still a matter of critical importance for Christine," Rydell added, according to the filing.
Rydell's comments came Wednesday in a filing on Baumgartner's behalf where Rydell criticized Laura Wasser, Costner's attorney, for not agreeing to delay a hearing where a judge will decide whether to grant the actor's request to bar his ex from continuing to live in his $145 million compound off the Santa Barbara coast.
Rydell and Wasser did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this week, Insider reported that Costner complained to the judge in their divorce case that Baumgartner refused to move out of the compound, even though their prenuptial agreement stipulated that she had to move out within 30 days if they divorced.
"I was married before, and upon separation, I found myself without a home base and unable to live in my own home," Costner said in a June 8 declaration to the courts. "I never wanted this to happen again. Because of the nature of my work, I am frequently out of town; it is therefore particularly important to me that when I am home, I have a home to go to.
"Thus, when Christine and I began discussing marriage in 2003, I made it clear to her that I would not marry again without clarity that my separate property residences would remain mine to live in no matter what happened in our marriage."
Costner said he agreed to give Baumgartner $1 million toward a new home and pledged to pay her mortgage, insurance, and taxes on the new house for a year, court papers said.
Additionally, Costner said in court papers that he was pushing for joint custody of their three children: Grace, 13, Hayes, 14, and Cayden, 16. He said the children would not be largely affected by their mother's ouster.
"Because the children will be spending at least half of their time at my home, they will not be disrupted by Christine's imminent move," Costner said in the June 8 declaration. "Christine and I have been working on a summer schedule to ensure that the children have a smooth transition between our two homes."
A judge has not yet ruled on delaying the hearing or whether to bar Baumgartner from Costner's compound.
The couple — who have a 19-year age difference — met on a golf course in the early 1990s when the actor was preparing for his role in the film "Tin Cup." At the time, Costner was still married to his first wife, Cindy Silva.
It was his divorce from Silva — with whom he shares three children between the ages of 35 and 39 — that has caused Costner to put in place such a strict prenup this time around, he said.
According to Forbes, their 1994 settlement, in which Silva was awarded an estimated $80 million, was one of the most expensive celebrity divorces ever.
After his and Baumgartner's initial meeting, they began dating in '98. They got married in 2004 in a ceremony at the actor-director's sprawling 165-acre ranch just outside Aspen, Colorado.
The divorce comes amid some drama in Costner's professional life, too.
Deadline reported in February that a behind-the-scenes feud between the actor and the "Yellowstone" cocreator Taylor Sheridan over shooting schedules was holding up production on the show's fifth season.
While Costner has yet to address the claims, it was announced in May that the drama would be ending later this year with the conclusion of its fifth and final season.