Divorced because husband has a mistress, wife surprised to have to pay 4 million VND/month in alimony
At the age of nearly 60, when her children were all settled down, Mrs. V (56 years old, Hanoi) thought she would enjoy a peaceful old age with her husband who had worked hard together since difficult times. But life pushed him, Mr. T (59 years old, Mrs. V's husband) fell into the arms of a woman who was almost two zodiac signs younger than him. Immersed in a delusion, Mr. T secretly withdrew all the savings books accumulated for the whole life of the couple, and gave them to his mistress to invest in business.
Sweet promises quickly passed, the "ghost" project collapsed, the lover took all the remaining money and then disappeared without a trace. At this point, Mr. T confessed to Mrs. V and hoped to be forgiven by his wife.
The tragedy escalated when creditors repeatedly came to Ms. V's house to demand debt from Mr. T. Ms. V had to gradually sell the common assets of the two to pay off debts, only keeping the small house that her parents had given to her separately when dividing assets for their children to make a shelter and open a small grocery store to make a living for the two.
Life just passed heavily day by day. After many nights of crying alone, the bitterness and accumulated hurt made Mrs. V decide to do something she had never thought of: Apply for divorce to free herself.
But the tragedy did not stop there. Before going to court, Mr. T repeatedly said that because he was no longer able to work, and had no personal property or income, and requested Ms. V to provide him with 5 million VND per month so that he could have money to live after the divorce.
Believing that it was Mr. T's fault that caused the family's married life to break down, Ms. V continuously protested and did not accept this request.
On the day of court, the two quietly went separately like strangers. I don't know what Mr. T thought, and Ms. V only hoped to quickly end the court session to be "free of debt".
However, when hearing the court's judgment that she had to provide support for Mr. T with 4 million VND per month from the income of the small grocery store, Ms. V could not help but be surprised, because Mr. T's request for support was legally grounded.
The lawyer said there is a basis
Lawyer Nguyen Huu Hoc (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) said that marital relations are special relationships in civil relations. The termination of marital relations does not mean that all legal obligations between the two parties also end.
According to Article 115 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family, when divorcing, if one party is in difficulty, in poverty, has a request for alimony and there is a legitimate reason, the other party has the obligation to provide alimony according to their ability.
Article 116 of this law stipulates that the level of alimony is agreed upon by the parties, based on the income, actual ability of the person with alimony obligation and the essential needs of the person receiving alimony. In case no agreement can be reached, it is possible to request the court to resolve it.
In the hypothetical situation of Mr. T and Ms. V, Mr. T requests alimony after divorce. The fact that he no longer has assets, no stable income and has records showing cardiovascular disease and blood pressure are factors that can be considered when assessing whether he really falls into a difficult, impoverished situation and has legitimate reasons or not. However, whether to receive alimony and the specific level of alimony depends on the court's assessment of the circumstances of both parties.
The fact that one party is at fault leading to divorce does not mean that person naturally loses the right to request alimony. If the requesting person meets the legally prescribed conditions, the other party may have to fulfill the alimony obligation according to their actual ability," lawyer Hoc said.
