Dennis Quaid Wants to Stop Paying $13,750 a Month in Child Support
Dennis Quaid has filed a petition to terminate his monthly child support payments to ex-wife Kimberly Buffington, citing one simple fact: their twins are about to finish high school.
The 72-year-old actor filed the petition on May 22, asking the court to end the $13,750 monthly payments for son Thomas and daughter Zoe, both 18. Under the terms of Quaid and Buffington's 2018 divorce agreement, child support was set to terminate "when a child completes 12th grade" — which both twins will do on June 3.
Quaid is also asking the court to prorate a separate bonus provision in the agreement. Under the current arrangement, he owes Buffington an additional sum each year if his annual income exceeds $1,314,000. He's requesting that amount be prorated to the date of the kids' graduation rather than calculated for a full year that includes months after support was supposed to end.
The Marriage and the Long Road to Divorce
Quaid and Buffington, a real estate broker, married in July 2004 and welcomed twins Thomas and Zoe in November 2007. Their relationship had a famously bumpy ending. They first filed for divorce in March 2012, reconciled a month later, split again in October 2012 with Buffington filing for legal separation, then got back together when that filing was dismissed the following year.
The marriage finally ended for good when Buffington filed for divorce a second time in 2016. The couple released a joint statement at the time calling the decision mutual. "After careful consideration, we have decided to end our 12 year marriage," they said. "The decision was made amicably and with mutual respect toward one another. We will always remain great friends and devoted partners in raising our children."
The divorce was finalized in 2018. The settlement gave both parents joint legal and physical custody, with Buffington having the twins 75% of the time and Quaid 25%, citing his career and business schedule. Quaid also agreed to a $2 million spousal support buyout — a non-modifiable lump sum instead of ongoing monthly payments — along with a $1 million equalization payment and half of their community property.
Is This Actually Unusual?
Not as much as it might sound. The "completes 12th grade" termination clause in the Quaid-Buffington agreement closely mirrors California's own default child support law. Under California Family Code Section 3901, child support generally continues until a child turns 18 and has finished high school — or until they turn 19, whichever happens first if they're still enrolled. So while Quaid's filing reads like a unique negotiated term, it's largely just restating what state law already provides for most California parents going through a divorce.
What is more specific to high-net-worth settlements is the income-based bonus clause. Standard California child support is calculated using a formula based on both parents' incomes, custody time, and tax considerations — but it doesn't typically include extra tiered payments triggered by exceeding a specific income threshold. That structure tends to show up in settlements involving high earners, where attorneys build in additional payment obligations tied to fluctuating income from acting work, business ventures, or other variable revenue streams, rather than relying on a flat number that might not reflect a wealthy parent's actual earnings in a given year.
Quaid's request to prorate that bonus to the graduation date rather than paying out a full year's worth is a fairly standard ask in this kind of filing — termination requests routinely include cleanup language addressing exactly when partial-year obligations should stop.
Quaid's Marriage History
Buffington was Quaid's third wife. He was previously married to actress P.J. Soles from 1978 to 1983, and to Meg Ryan from 1991 to 2001, with whom he shares son Jack Quaid. After his split from Buffington, Quaid married Laura Savoie, now 33, in 2020 — his fourth marriage.
With the twins set to graduate June 3, the legal question now sits with the court — whether to formally close out a financial chapter that, by both the agreement's own language and California law, may have already been winding down on its own.
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