Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner appear in court to battle over custody and child support payments in messy divorce

• The warring couple showed up to today’s two-day hearing in Santa Barbara, California, to battle over custody of their three children
• Baumgartner is attempting to increase the $129,755/month in child support she was awarded in June
• Costner wore a tailored beige suit and snuck into court through a side door while Baumgartner opted for a gray suit and was flanked by her lawyers

Kevin Costner and wife Christine Baumgartner were back in court Thursday to battle out custody of their three kids and lofty child support payments.

Both Costner and his soon-to-be ex-wife arrived at the hearing with 30 minutes to spare; Costner dapper in a tailored beige suit snuck in through a side door.

Meanwhile Baumgartner, 49, opted for a gray suit and sunglasses, despite a foggy day in Santa Barbara, and wore her hair in half pulled up style. 

Today’s hearing, in Santa Barbara, California, is scheduled to last for two days and will be overseen by Judge Thomas Anderle.

It concerns the future of their three children: sons Cayden, 16, and Hayes, 14, and 13-year-old daughter Grace and whether Baumgartner can improve on the $129,755-per-month in child support she was awarded in June.

The warring pair were married for 19 years and Costner was allegedly left ‘blindsided’ after his glamorous wife filed for divorce in May citing his heavy workload.

Since then, the pair have been trading blows over where each will live, the validity of their prenup and the eye-watering amount of child support cash Baumgartner is demanding.

The mom-of-three initially asked for a monthly child support total of $248,000, which Costner, 68, said he was opposed to.

After being awarded substantially less, she is now asking for it to be hiked to $175,000-a-month in order to provide her children with a ‘comparable’ standard of living when they are with her.

In court papers, she told how the children live in a sprawling $145million beachfront compound when they are with their father, fly by private jet and enjoy luxury vacations.

Baumgartner, who moved out of the marital home last month following a court wrangle, said her new $40,000-a-month rental property in Montecito does not compare to the one she left behind.

A legal filing lodged with court last week said: ‘Unlike Kevin’s Beach Club Compound, the September rental is on the mountain side of the freeway.

‘It does not have beach front access, nor is it walking distance to the beach, and has no scenic view.’

A further legal paper included a request for further details of the Dances With Wolves star’s $400million fortune, among them a demand for ‘expenses paid by you, or any person at your request or on your behalf, relating to any extramarital romantic relationships.’

Baumgartner also wants to know whether Costner will return to smash hit series Yellowstone and says he earned $11 million for the fourth season , or $1.1 million for each episode. Season five saw him receive $10 million, meaning he made $1.25M per episode.

The brief also said Costner will continue to receive financial compensation from Yellowstone even if he departs as he is ‘entitled to a percentage of profit participation’ from the program ‘irrespective of his participation in Season 6 or beyond’. 

In response, Costner’s legal team – which is led by Hollywood divorce lawyer Laura Wasser – stated that the request is ‘propounded only for purposes of harassment, is overbroad as to time period and subject matter, burdensome, oppressive and impermissibly compound’.

His lawyers further stated that Christine and her attorneys’ request is ‘not relevant to the subject matter’ because ‘there is no community property’ between the former couple in regards to their separation.

Costner and his team also added that he ‘does not know for a fact if [Christine] engaged in any ‘extramarital romantic relationships’ before separation and, if so, whether she spent any of his money or charged any expenses in furtherance of her affair(s) on credit cards he paid.’

The star’s attorneys stated, ‘[Kevin] has no responsive documents for ‘extramarital romantic relationships’ in which he engaged because he engaged in none.’

More details of Costner’s finances are expected to be heard in court today as part of the ‘multi-day evidentiary hearing on [Baumgartner’s] request for child support, at which time the Court will receive evidence regarding [Costner’s] gross cash flow available for support and anticipated future income.’

The pair were photographed arriving at court to give depositions in Santa Barbara on August 19 ahead of the hearing and the case is scheduled to go to a full trial later this year.