A man in Yiyang, Hunan Province, divorced after cheating, and the court awarded 100,000 yuan in damages for divorce

Once in a lifetime, one couple,

It is a good wish for the long-term love of husband and wife,

But if one of the parties cheats after marriage,

Leave the vows of the year behind,

Caused the happy family to be broken,

Doesn't it have to pay a price?

This

The court struck!

Brief facts of the case

The woman Li and the man Wang registered their marriage in January 2011 and had two daughters after marriage. However, the good times did not last long, and Li found that Wang not only cheated in marriage, but also had children with others. In desperation, she and the other party agreed to divorce at the South County Civil Affairs Bureau, and the third article of the divorce agreement stipulated: the man voluntarily compensated the woman for 200,000 yuan, if the man unconditionally cooperated with the woman to smoothly move the two children's hukou to the location of the woman's hukou, and did not conditionally cooperate with the two children to change their names and surnames, only 100,000 yuan of compensation was required for the woman; the compensation payment needed to be settled before December 31, 2020.

After the divorce, Li lived alone with his two daughters. However, Wang did not cooperate with the two children to change their names and surnames, relocate their household registrations, and did not pay divorce damages according to the time and amount agreed in the divorce agreement. Unable to bear it, Li sued Wang to the court, demanding 100,000 yuan in compensation.

Court hearings

After trial, the Nanxian People's Court held that, pursuant to Article 1091 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, in any of the following circumstances, the party without fault has the right to claim compensation in any of the following circumstances: (1) bigamy; (2) cohabitation with others; (3) domestic violence; (4) abuse or abandonment of family members; and (5) other major faults. Article 86 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Marriage and Family Part of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (I) stipulates that the "damage compensation" provided for in Article 1091 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China includes material damage compensation and moral damage compensation.

In this case, the defendant Wang had an improper male-female relationship with others during the marriage relationship with plaintiff Li and gave birth to a child, which was a situation where there were other major faults that led to divorce, and should bear the corresponding civil compensation liability. Therefore, the court supported plaintiff Li's claim for damages. As for the amount of damages, the plaintiff and the defendant had voluntarily reached an agreement when they divorced, but the plaintiff Li only requested compensation of 100,000 yuan, which was a disposition of his own rights and did not violate the provisions of the law, and the court supported it.

In the end, the court ordered Wang to pay Li 100,000 yuan in damages after divorce within 30 days of the effective date of the judgment.

Divorce damages refers to the legal system in which the marital relationship breaks down due to the gross fault of one of the spouses, and the party at fault shall compensate the party without fault for the losses.

Q1: Under what circumstances can I claim divorce damages?

One of the parties to the marriage has committed illegal acts that hinder marital and family relations, such as bigamy, cohabitation with others, domestic violence, abuse of family members, abandonment of family members, etc., due to subjective fault, causing damage to the party without fault and leading to the result of divorce, and the party without fault has the right to claim damages.

Q2: What is the scope of divorce damages? How is the amount determined?

Divorce damages include material damages and moral damages. However, due to the peculiarities of divorce damages caused by wrongful acts in each divorce case, the amount of compensation varies. The amount of damages for divorce may be agreed upon by both spouses and, if the agreement is not successful, determined by the court at its discretion.

Q3: Who can claim divorce damages? Who is responsible for divorce damages?

The subject of the claim for divorce damages can only be the non-faulty spouse of the spouses. The premise is that the parties have a legal marital relationship, and if the parties have not registered the marriage but are merely cohabiting, they are not entitled to a claim for divorce damages.

The right to claim damages for divorce can only be made by the no-fault party to his or her legal spouse, i.e. the party at fault. A third party who has bigamy, cohabitation, adultery, etc. with the spouse of the wrong party is not the subject of compensation obligations in the divorce damage compensation system, and the no-fault party cannot claim compensation from a "third party" in divorce proceedings.

If both spouses are at fault, neither spouse can claim damages.

Q4: When can I exercise my right to claim damages for divorce?

Where, during the period of marriage, a separate claim for damages for divorce is filed without filing for divorce, the people's court shall not accept it.

Circumstances of litigation divorce:

1. Where the party without fault files a claim for divorce damages with the people's court as the plaintiff, it must be filed at the same time as the divorce proceedings.

2. In a divorce lawsuit in which the party without fault is the defendant, if the defendant does not agree to the divorce and does not file a claim for divorce damages, a separate lawsuit may be filed in this regard.

Circumstances of divorce by agreement:

Where a divorce registration formality has been completed at the marriage registration organ, a request for damages for divorce may still be submitted to the court, but where the request has been expressly waived at the time of divorce by agreement, the people's court will not support it.

Q5: What evidence should be submitted to claim damages for divorce?

In cases of divorce damages disputes, the principle of "whoever claims, who proves" applies, that is, the party without fault bears the burden of proof. It is necessary to pay attention to the methods, means, and channels permitted by law to collect evidence from units, organizations, and personnel who know the truth, such as: diagnosis or proof of injury examination and injury appraisal of domestic violence; criminal judgments made by people's courts constituting abuse, abandonment, or other domestic violence crimes; photographs, audio or video recordings proving the other party's faulty conduct or facts; and relevant records of judicial, administrative, and law enforcement organs.

Source: Hunan High Court