Kevin Costner is taking the stand in a hearing over child support amid his divorce from wife Christine.
The Yellowstone actor, 68, testified Friday in court in Santa Barbara, California, during the second day of a hearing that was set to address Christine's request for $175,057 per month in child support — a $46,000-plus increase from the $129,000 she's currently receiving from Costner.
On the stand, Costner was asked whether his Santa Barbara compound and Christine's new $40,000 rental home are "fair." Costner said that he believes the two properties "are comparable" but "I don’t believe they are equal."
“I think I know what fair means," he added.
During Costner's testimony, Christine, 49, did not make eye contact with the actor, looking down or at her lawyer and not reacting when he called her his wife. (She filed for divorce in May.)
After viewing numbers on a monthly expense report, the Oscar winner asked, "Is this after the date she left me?", referring to Christine.
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The Field of Dreams star was also asked how the children generally use their Santa Barbara compound, saying sons Cayden, 16, and Hayes, 14, plus daughter Grace, 13 "predominantly play in the driveway that Christine made beautiful for them."
Asked whether he'd himself live in the $40,000-a-month property Christine is currently renting, the actor said, "No, I would not, but that’s not because it’s not comparable,” adding of his current home, “I raised three children in that house. It’s a beach house. Their hands are in the stone."
“I’d like some features of that home, to be quite honest," he noted of his ex's rental.
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Costner's turn to testify comes one day after Christine did so. On Thursday, Christine's attorney John Rydell said that the lifestyle Christine and Costner’s three children have grown accustomed to is “in their DNA at this point.”
On the stand, Christine explained how a decrease in financial status would affect their kids. She said in part their children are “very connected to the ocean — it’s their home,” and noted the surf garage is 50 steps from “toes in the water."
Christine is currently receiving $129,000 in monthly child support for the couple’s children, after filing for divorce. The couple was married for 18 years.
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In an opening statement Thursday, Rydell said they were reducing the child support request amount to $161,592 per month, per a forensic accountant's latest assessment. The new amount remains higher than Costner's proposal of $60,000 per month, put forth by his lawyers during the hearing.
The mother of three's legal filing obtained by PEOPLE on Aug. 26 stated that “forensics has determined that [Kevin's] average cash flow available for support for the two-year period of 2021 and 2022 was $19,248,467 per year ($1,604,039 per month)."
"Based on this cash flow, and a 50/50 parenting time share, the guideline child support, which is presumptively correct under California law, is $175,057 per month," those documents continued.
The court document obtained by PEOPLE ahead of the hearing further stated, “Christine brings this request in order to uphold these Family Law principles and to assure that the parties’ three minor children will continue to have the benefit of the lifestyle that has been made possible by Kevin’s substantial earnings and wealth."
Additionally, per those legal documents, Costner's "various accounts and entities had a total of $17,293,117 in cash equivalents as of June 30, 2023, giving him ample funds to pay his support and also to pay the attorneys’ fees and costs for both parties."
According to those court documents, “$175,057 per month will not be sufficient to replicate Kevin’s lifestyle, but it will be sufficient to allow her to provide a lifestyle for the children which is relatively comparable.”
Should the request be granted, the order would be “made retroactive to July 1," according to the court filing.
The documents added, “The Court is required to set child support at a level that, when the children are with Christine, they live a lifestyle relatively comparable to the one they enjoy when they are with their father."
