Kevin Costner & Christine settled their divorce, she ‘got more’ than the prenup

This genuinely shocked me: Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner settled their divorce, just a few months before they were supposed to head back to court for what looked like an especially messy fight over the prenup. When we last checked in on the Baumgartner-Costner divorce, the elderly family judge was taking Costner’s side across the board, and the judge awarded Christine with significantly less money than she was asking for in child support. They were also gearing up for battle over who will pay Christine’s legal bills, and none of it was looking good for Christine. It didn’t even seem like she had a leg to stand on when it came to nullifying the prenup. So why would Kevin settle? I guess he low-balled her and she just took it, knowing that if she pursued the fight to nullify the prenup, she would end up an even bigger loser in court.

It may be the most shocking turn of events this year … the divorce war between Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner is now history, because they have SETTLED UP!!!

As improbable as a settlement seemed, there were signs it might happen. As we reported, Kevin’s legal team, headed up by disso queen Laura Wasser, won a series of legal skirmishes, particularly in the child support department. Wasser submitted paperwork to the court saying Kevin’s monthly obligation should be $63k a month. Christine wanted $248k a month, and after a 2-day evidentiary hearing in Santa Barbara earlier this month, Judge Thomas Anderle sided with Kevin.

The judge also made it pretty clear … the prenup would be enforced, and if Christine challenged it she would have to repay Kevin more than $1 million and pay his attorney’s fees for the prenup fight. Apparently, Christine saw the handwriting on the wall and agreed over the weekend to the terms of a 3-page settlement letter.

The 2 were married for 18 years and had 3 kids together. Christine filed for divorce back in May and asked for joint custody. Kevin also asked for joint custody. We don’t know the details of the settlement, but it looks like Christine’s $850,000 fee request is off the table.

Although the prenup is enforceable, our sources say Christine got more than what was prescribed in the doc … for the sake of settlement.

[From TMZ]

Yep, Christine got hosed, not only by her ex-husband but by her lawyers too. I thought she had all of her ducks in a row, but Christine and her lawyers were no match for Costner, Laura Wasser and Costner’s bot-farm and crisis management team. I would imagine the settlement was probably little more than twice the prenup payout, meaning $2 million. Much of her settlement will be eaten up by legal fees as well. But hey, at least she’s out. At least she’s free and she can start over. Maybe rent a little beach shack and work part-time at a jewelry shop or something. Man, she really got the short end.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.