Linda Evangelista prepares for family court fight

NEW YORK - Glamorous Linda Evangelista and her billionaire French baby-daddy are ready to rumble at Manhattan Family Court.

Evangelista, 46, and Francois-Henri Pinault -- CEO of the Paris-based luxury conglomerate that owns Gucci and Yves St. Laurent -- will be going to trial Thursday to hash out a final order of support for five-year-old Augustus, the offspring of their four-month, 2005 affair.

With Pinault due to testify Thursday, and Evangelista on Friday, the trial is shaping up to be a financial slug-fest.

In court appearances last year, the sides had argued over some $46,000 in monthly expenses the cat walker wants Pinault to pay for.

These include $15,000 to $16,000 a month for gun-toting, ex-NYPD detective chauffeurs, plus a 24-hour nanny costing almost $7,000 a month.

Little Augie deserves a comparable lifestyle to what Pinault lavishes on his four-year-old daughter by wife Salma Hayek, Evangelista's lawyer, William Beslow has argued.

Besides, Pinault's family is worth an estimated $11.5 billion, and Pinault himself earns $5 million a year, so he can well afford it, Beslow has argued.

Pinault spends $50,000 a month just on the taxes, upkeep and loan payments for the $12 million Los Angeles home he's put in trust for the girl, Valentina.

But Pinault's side argues that Evangelista doesn't just want child support -- she wants mom support, too.

For instance, Evangelista -- herself worth an estimated $8 million, and still pulling in $1.8 million in 2010 -- has in past tax returns claimed 80 to 90 percent of the chauffeur cost as her own business expense, a Pinault source said.

Evangelista has even complained that Valentina gets to spend time at her grandparents' lavish French country estate -- and "Augie should have his own country house," the source claimed.

"Pinault drives himself to work in France, and is a pretty low-key guy," the source said. "He doesn't want this -- doesn't want his kid's business to be dragged into court. But they haven't budged in any way," the source said of Evangelista's $46,000-a-month request.