Kevin Costner’s Ex Christine Ordered to Pay $14K of His Divorce Attorney Fees

Kevin Costner’s estranged wife Christine has been ordered to pay a portion of the actor’s divorce attorney fees, totaling $14,237.50.

The latest development in their contentious divorce battle resulted in Judge Thomas Anderle’s ruling on Wednesday that Christine, 49, must cover over $14K of Kevin’s legal costs that he says he accrued while trying to obtain answers about her understanding of their prenuptial agreement.

Judge Anderle, during the ruling, emphasized that this is “certainly a case of consequence.”

In a request for order filed in California Superior Court and obtained by PEOPLE last month, attorneys for Kevin, 68, asked the court to compel Christine to respond to their questions, claiming she “refuses to make known all of her contentions regarding the validity of the PMA.”

The documents filed by the Yellowstone star’s attorneys continued, “The objections she has mustered in an effort to not disclose her contentions are frivolous. She says she does not understand words like ‘understood’ or ‘negotiation,’ so she cannot answer this discovery.”

The document specified the legal fees totaled $14,237.50, further stating, “Discovery is not a game of chicken. Kevin should never have been required to spend money to file a motion.”

Under the prenuptial agreement’s terms, Christine received a $1.5 million payout. If she challenges it, she risks forfeiting the payout and could be ordered to pay more of Kevin’s legal fees. In July, her attorneys argued that “there has been no determination by this Court that the parties’ premarital agreement is enforceable.”

They further called out Kevin’s request to have Christine pay that amount: “Kevin asserts that he should not have to pay fees and costs for Christine to challenge the validity of the PMA. He also regularly claims that the PMA is valid and that there is no evidence to the contrary. This is the legal equivalent of whistling past the graveyard.”

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Married since 2004, the exes share three children: Cayden, 16, Hayes, 14, and Grace, 13.

During a two-day Santa Barbara court case determining child support last week, a judge set the monthly payments Kevin will pay to Christine at $63,209, matching his proposed amount after she and her lawyers had requested $175,057, up from the $129,755 the actor had been tentatively ordered to pay in July.

After Christine’s attorney John Rydell said that the oceanside lifestyle their three children have enjoyed at their Santa Barbara compound is “in their DNA at this point,” Kevin took the stand. “My biggest concern is that the court orders me to pay child support that is above the needs of my children and for the needs of Christine,” he said.

Asked while leaving that courtroom during a lunch break whether he “still has love” for Christine, Kevin told reporters, “Of course.”

“This is a horrible place to be,” he added. “But this is where we’re at.”

Christine filed for divorce from the Dances with Wolves Oscar winner in May after 18 years of marriage. A rep for Kevin said in a statement at the time, “It is with great sadness that circumstances beyond his control have transpired which have resulted in Mr. Costner having to participate in a dissolution of marriage action.”

Kevin and Christine will appear in court again in December to hash out the validity of their premarital agreement.