Kevin Costner’s Prenup Has Me Upset and His Yellowstone Fans Aren’t Having It
Hold your horses, sexy John Dutton lovers, and hear me out
Kevin Costner and his Yellowstone fans are upset about my divorce prenup opinion. Geez, you give a guy a horse and a cowboy hat and people find him irresistible.
I think I have a valid point about the prenuptial agreement Costner’s wife signed.
Hear me out before you go hating on Christine Baumgartner or me.
I’m trying to speak to the gray area of a divorce.
The world isn’t black and white. Relationships are complex. Marriages are beyond complicated. And divorce, well I’m not sure there’s even a proper descriptor for that big hot mess.
Okay, take a deep breath before I potentially tick you off.
Again, I think this is a valid argument or at the very least thought-provoking.
Not only with Kevin Costner's divorce but with divorce in general.
Before you totally lose it, I’m not saying the prenup isn’t a legally binding document and shouldn’t hold up. I once wrote a huge feature on prenups for a print magazine in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
If anyone understands prenups it is me.
I did a deep dive into the topic and its ancient Egyptian origin and history.
I’m not saying that Christine Baumgartner should get all of Kevin Costner’s riches. I’m saying there is a gray area with three children and a nearly two-decades-long relationship.
I’m simply saying while the prenup is valid…
Is it completely fair for Costner after this duration of a marriage, to want to uphold the prenup down to the letter? You would think Kevin Costner might consider something (not anything outrageous) but something slightly more generous than an agreement that was made nearly 20 years ago.
Okay, here goes.
This is my argument.
Kevin Costner protected himself when he married Christine Baumgartner.
He had a prenuptial agreement drawn up and Baumgartner signed it. In this agreement, it states she was to vacate the Costner home within 30 days of a divorce filing. It says she will receive $1.4 million dollars.
Costner protected all of his assets.
Costner and Baumgartner agreed she would sign this legal document.
Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner also made another agreement.
Albeit, a verbal one.
They made a decision Baumgartner would be a stay-at-home mother. As in the aforementioned prenuptial agreement, this was a jointly agreed upon marital choice. Both parties would have come to this conclusion for their family.
This was a verbal agreement.
Christine Baumgartner did not get Kevin Costner to sign an agreement.
Instead, we can only guess that she chose to rely on trust.
We now have a marriage with two jointly made agreements.
One is written and one is verbal.
Does the letter of the law favor the written agreement? Absolutely.
But is it fair, that no consideration is given to a different type of sacrifice?
Celebrity or no celebrity. Extreme wealth or little wealth. A mother is a mother. And a stay-at-home mother does make a professional sacrifice. It doesn’t matter that this particular divorce is based on a Hollywood wealth most can’t even fathom.
Kevin Costner’s wife is certainly not the typical stay-at-home mother.
She has a small army of help.
She’s lived an extravagantly lush lifestyle. But that doesn’t mean she should be judged strictly by that. Costner’s work demands he travels for months at a time. Even with help, Baumgartner would likely have been the primary caregiver without her spouse for months at a time.
Most individuals can’t view Kevin Costner’s wife with any sympathy.
It’s sad that wealth can blind people’s empathy.
The irony is not lost on this relationship and divorce writer.
The wealth is making much of the public label Baumgartner a gold-digger. They are saying she needs to get a job. I’m sure she will. They are saying she needs to move out of the house. I’m sure she will. My best guess is she’s doing what the family law system believes in and trying to keep her children in their home until the divorce is finalized.
As well as protect herself in some manner.
Costner offered Baumgartner $30,000 per month toward a rental home although it’s unclear yet for how long. It also seems Costner is doing the right thing by offering to pay 100% of private school tuition, health insurance, and activities. And saying he will pay $10,000 in moving expenses and the $1.4 million dollars per prenup.
No one knows what goes on in a marriage.
We don’t know Kevin Costner or Christine Baumgartner.
But we do know they are parents.
We do know they made two different agreements.
One will be upheld.
The other will be disregarded.
One person’s value will prevail because they are financially dominant. The other spouse’s value will decrease because they became financially vulnerable.
Just because it involves a massive amount of money makes no difference.
This woman is financially vulnerable.
And it’s not just because she signed a prenup.
It’s because she also made another decision to become a stay-at-home mother. She gave her power away twice. Because she loved a man.
But society has little empathy for her because she lived a wealthy lifestyle.
I’m sorry, but no mother should be reduced for raising her children.
It’s interesting no one seems to focus on the great disparity of wealth in the Costner divorce. Costner is worth nearly $400 million and their family home is worth $145 million.
He’s giving Baumgartner, the mother of his children $1.4 million dollars.
Am I the only one who sees that as a little bit of a screw you?
Even if Baumgartner ultimately receives child support, it will only be for a few years. Her children are teenagers. Maybe that will make the general public happy. No matter what, it looks as if she will walk away with very little after devoting two decades to a man.
The prenup is a valid legal document.
But it seems John Dutton could spare a little more for the mother of his children.
Without being taken advantage of at all.
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