Kevin and Christine's Divorce is a Cesspool

As I said before, and it comes down to this, she signed a terrible prenup. He offered her an insult, and she signed it, probably thinking it would never come to this. Maybe she told herself they would work through anything, and her love for him clouded her judgment. I get the impression babygirl is not a brain trust. 

Christine did herself no favors by asking for a quarter million dollars a month, and now it has been cut even more, from 129,000 to 63,000 a month. It is a quarter of the quarter million she asked for. Now, she or her lawyers made poor decisions because he had offered her more than that which she turned down. I fail to see the strategy they threw out there; even their reasoning sounds like she found their number on some billboard on the way to Vegas. 

"Because the children fly on private aircraft to go on luxury vacations when they are with their father, the Family Code dictates that Kevin should pay sufficient child support to Christine so that the children can go on comparable vacations when they are with her. This is true even if the child support payments also improve Christine's lifestyle," Baumgartner's lawyers claimed in a brief filed on Wednesday, August 30, ahead of their hearing. "In this case, the guideline child support requested by Christine of $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."

That is different from what that law is for. It isn't for luxury vacations; it is for daily living expenses. They don't mean the children will do everything they do with the wealthier parent, just that they should live in comparable living conditions, not be able to jet off places or eat in 5-star restaurants. Those are extras and not necessary. It means they shouldn't live in a shabby apartment with her and then go to his sprawling mansion. A beautiful home in Pacific Palisades, with a housekeeper, gardener, and driver, is enough to live comfortably. My Cousin Vinny should know this. Who are these lawyers, for crying out loud. How do you write that with a straight face?

My husband and I were talking about this, and he thinks Kevin should allow them to live in the same house until the last child turns 18, pay those expenses, their schooling, and then pay her child support of 35 or 40 thousand a month. He thinks it tells him that Kevin isn't a loving father like he claims and that he should offer her some alimony even if she signed the prenup. The mother should get 25 thousand dollars a month until she remarries, though it wouldn't be enough to live like she used to; it is enough to buy a nice condo, and then she needs to get a job. Hmmm. Okay, fair enough. 

Kevin's team is winning the PR war, and it has come to light that she accepted 20,000 dollars from that guy she went to Hawaii with last month. She says she gave half of it back and slept in separate rooms, claiming they were only friends. He isn't her boyfriend, she says, which induces eye rolls. It sounds grubby, and that doesn't help her case. Why would a guy take you to Hawaii with all the expenses paid? For a competitive game of tiddlywinks? 

I really, really want to like Christine and root for her. However, she rubs me the wrong way. I am unable to figure this out. I know he's a cad and man slut, yet I still can't get on her train. It isn't that she sounds money obsessed, which she totally does, not that she's greedy because that ship has sailed, but that she appears dim and lacks subtlety. There is no way someone spends that much on children. 

If she was going for alimony, then I would have gotten behind that since he's a dick who thinks with his dick, but she didn't. So, I am stuck with a vague dislike of her and disgust with him. More mud will be slung without considering the fact that the kids will understand it. Poor kids. 

(photos:Shuttershock)