Kevin Costner’s estranged wife Christine isn’t happy with how their three kids learned of their split.
In a court filing obtained by PEOPLE, Christine, 49, says Yellowstone star Kevin, 68, told their kids Grace, 13, Hayes, 14, and Cayden, 16, about their divorce in a brief Zoom call while he was filming on location in Las Vegas.
“The children’s welfare has always been my highest priority, and I was concerned they would find out about the divorce before Kevin and I could tell them. It was important for me that we tell the children in person and together,” Christine alleges in the documents.
Christine says she expressed her concerns with Kevin that the kids would hear the news through an “outside source,” shared “several articles about the importance of talking to the children as a united front” and believed they would go about it together.
“He disregarded my proposal to do what I felt was right based on research and my relationship with the children. Instead, he insisted that he had the right to tell them that we were getting divorced ‘first’ and tell them privately ‘without me present,'” she continues in her claims.
“After a 24-year relationship, from his hotel room in Las Vegas, Kevin told our three children that we were getting divorced over a 10-minute Zoom call without me present,” she claims. “I am still confused by his motivation to do this via a very short Zoom session, especially since he was planning on being home five days later. He also could have easily come home from Las Vegas to have the conversation in person.”
A rep for the Field of Dreams actor confirmed to PEOPLE on May 2 that he and his wife of 18 years were breaking up after she filed for divorce. Christine listed their date of separation as April 11, and cited irreconcilable differences.
A source close to the actor notes that Christine filed for divorce while Kevin was filming on location. “He FaceTimes all the time with the kids when he is away working,” says the source.
The pair married in September 2004. Aside from Cayden, Hayes and Grace, Costner is also dad to four older children from previous relationships: Annie, Lily, Joe and Liam.