Who is Kimberly Buffington? Dennis Quaid files to stop ex wife’s child support payments after children graduate from school

Kimberly Buffington has made multiple headlines recently after her ex-husband Dennis Quaid filed a petition to end his monthly child support payments. On May 20, the Parent Trap actor, who is now seventy-two years old, filed a petition to stop his $13,750 monthly payments to Buffington for their eighteen-year-old twins, Thomas and Zoe, following their high school graduation. This comes as per court documents obtained by People.

Quaid cited the terms of his 2018 divorce agreement with Buffington, which stated that payments may end

"when a child completes 12th grade (if still under 19 and a full-time high school student) or reaches the other enumerated endpoints, whichever occurs first."

Both twins are set to graduate in May and June of this year, as per the report shared by People.

Away from the headlines, Kimberly Buffington is a real estate professional. According to her profile on Deasy Penner’s website, she grew up in the family business, with her father owning the largest private homebuilding company in Austin, Texas. She worked across all areas of his company, including his interior design firm. Once placed in a New Home Sales role, Kimberly Buffington achieved the top sales award as an onsite sales agent in her very first year, at just twenty years old.

Dennis Quaid and Kimberly Buffington's divorce agreement explained as bonus payment dispute surfaces:

As per the report shared by People, Quaid's petition also addressed an additional financial matter. On top of his $13,750 monthly payments, Quaid is required to pay Buffington, who is now fifty-three years old, a bonus sum each year if his annual income exceeds $1,314,000. In his filing, Quaid requested that this potential bonus amount be

"prorated to each child's graduation date rather than using Dennis' full-year 2026 income."

Quaid and Kimberly Buffington, his third wife, welcomed twins Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace via surrogate in November 2007 in Santa Monica. The couple had married three years prior, in 2004. Quaid is also a father to son Jack, whom he welcomed with his second wife, actress Meg Ryan.

When the couple filed for divorce in 2016, after twelve years of marriage, both kept things civil. They shared a joint statement with TMZ, telling the outlet that after careful consideration, they had decided to end their marriage.

"The decision was made amicably and with mutual respect toward one another," they shared.

"We will always remain great friends and devoted partners in raising our children," they added.

Their divorce was eventually finalized in 2018.

Kimberly Buffington and Dennis Quaid's twins survived a terrifying medical overdose days after their birth:

Just two weeks after Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace were born, the newborns were accidentally given a massive overdose of the blood thinner Heparin, as per a report shared by People. The twins spent days battling for their lives.

Back in 2015, Dennis Quaid opened up about the experience on the Allegedly with Matthew Cole Weiss podcast.

"It turned their blood to the consistency of water," he said.

"The danger would be rupturing an artery. And they were so small they couldn't thrash around. I think that's what saved them," he added.

Quaid and his then wife Kimberly Buffington reached a $750,000 settlement against Cedars-Sinai in December 2008. The hospital was also fined $25,000 by the California Department of Public Health and said in 2008 that they had apologized to the families involved and were taking steps to better train their staff. Kimberly Buffington and Quaid also filed a separate lawsuit against Heparin's drug maker, Baxter Healthcare.

Quaid reflected on what followed from the ordeal, sharing that the hospital responded constructively.

"The hospital really stepped up and instituted a lot of patient safety that was very cutting edge and led the way with that. So a lot of good things came out of it, and I think a lot of lives got saved because of that. The drug companies, or the hospitals, actually put my face on the bottle to remind people for a time!"

"But you know, it's something that happens to you, you feel strongly about and you step up for it. It was really the kids that went through it and they were the ones that did it," he added.

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Quaid also reflected on just how frightening those days were for him and Buffington.

"It was the most frightening time of our lives. But they came through it."

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