Kevin Costner to live at his $145 million Santa Barbara compound and his estranged wife will get a 6-figure child support payment for now. It's a perfect opportunity for the ex-couple to settle the messy divorce, legal experts say

• Kevin Costner and his estranged wife have been in court in July, hashing out a heated divorce case.

• A judge side with Costner in asking his former partner to move out, but also awarded her $129k in child support.

• With the respective wins, they have a prime opportunity to settle the rest of their assets privately, experts said.

Amid a heated divorce battle, actor Kevin Costner and his estranged wife have been presented with an exit ramp in recent weeks to take their public feud private.

This month, a Santa Barbara judge has asked Christine Baumgartner to move out of Costner's sprawling $145 million Santa Barbara compound by the end of July and has separately ruled that Costner must pay her $129,000 in child support until the divorce is finalized.

Legal experts told Insider that the pair would be best served by settling privately at this juncture, given the judge's ruling initially favoring Costner, but the follow-up ruling giving Baumgatner more child support ahead of a scheduled November trial.

"If the parties were following sage legal advice, they would now take this very public feud private and resolve the remaining issues because the court has ruled on their hot-button issues: Christine must vacate the house and Kevin must pay her $129,755 per month," Holly Davis, an attorney who works high net-worth divorce cases with Kirker Davis LLP, told Insider.

The judge's ruling on child support came after Baumgartner had asked for $217,300, and Costner had offered $51,940.  The order will require Baumgartner to cover half of their three children's expenses, which Costner had covered, according to court filings.

Costner has sought joint custody of the children.

At the core of the case is a premarital agreement between the couple, which Baumgartner is challenging.

So far, a judge has already sided with Costner in upholding its validity by ordering Baumgartner to move out of his home after she filed for divorce, which was one of the provisions, per court filings. But in determining child support for Baumgartner, the judge also deviated from the prenuptial agreement, which required Costner to pay her $30,000 in child support if they divorced.

"They both had something to lose," Marilyn Chinitz, a divorce attorney and partner at Blank Rome, told Insider. "It's a short-term victory for her and it encourages both people to try to walk out and resolve this case."

Chinitz's former clients include actors Tom Cruise and Michael Douglas.

Baumgartner filed for divorce in May, and the split has been highly acrimonious, with the former couple lobbing barbs about each other through court filings.

While the judge threw out a number accounting for moving costs, final child support payment figures will be determined when their assets are set and the divorce is finalized, Chinitz told Insider. After dealing with moving costs, the child support payments could be significantly lower for Baumgartner.

That could be a motivation for Costner to move to a quick and private resolution, as well as for Baumgartner, who could salvage more marital assets outside of child support in settlement talks.

"Costner might not be incentivized to pay $129,755 a month and may want to get the case over with sooner rather than later," Chinitz told Insider.

Lawyers for Costner and Baumgartner did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Costner is seeking $99,000 from Baumgartner, due to the legal fees he has spent fending off her challenge to their premarital agreement.

Baumgartner — who has claimed no individual income in court filings — may also be motivated to avoid a mounting legal bill, as the child support payments could soon change.

Ahead of a scheduled November trial, the most painless way forward is to settle the remaining matters and assets privately, as the current judge has steered more in Costner's favor, Chinitz said.

"California lawyers turn to private judges to expedite a resolution process, which in this case, may be beneficial for everyone," Chinitz told Insider.

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