According to SCMP, in December 2013, a man surnamed Han living in Fujian province (China) married Ms. Yang and had 2 daughters.
Han started an affair with a female colleague surnamed Shi when they were in business together. They had a son together in November 2022.
In order to replace Yang as Han’s legal wife, Shi met her and proposed a deal. Shi offered to pay 2 million yuan (about 7 billion VND) if Yang agreed to divorce Han. Shi transferred 1.2 million yuan (about 4.2 billion VND) to Yang in advance by the end of 2022.
However, more than a year later, Yang still had not agreed to the divorce. Frustrated, Shi demanded the money back and even filed a lawsuit against Yang when she refused to return the 1.2 million yuan.
In the lawsuit, Shi claims there was a “verbal agreement” that the payment was contingent on Yang divorcing Han. She is asking the court to order Yang to return the money along with overdue interest for breach of contract.
On February 7, the local People's Court ruled against Shi's request, saying that the payment violated social morality and public order because it was intended to disrupt a legal marriage.
Additionally, the court determined that Han and Yang had signed a divorce agreement and were in a “cooling off period,” meaning the payment did not meet the legal requirements for a refund.
The "cooling off period" introduced by the Chinese government in 2021 requires couples filing for divorce to wait 30 days before finalizing their separation.
It was revealed that during their marriage, Han spent more than 6 million NDT (about 21 billion VND) on Shi without his wife knowing.
Yue Zengchao, a lawyer from Henan Yushun Law Firm, explained to Henan Radio that in such cases, the court is unlikely to side with the third party (Shi), even if the couple has not divorced.
“Any significant assets acquired by a married man during the affair are considered marital property. The wife has the legal right to demand that the third party return her share,” Yue explains.
Han lived with and fathered a child with someone else while still legally married to Yang. It is not yet clear whether Han will face legal consequences for potentially committing polygamy.
The incident has sparked heated discussion on Chinese social media. Many people supported the court's decision and said that "justice has been served". Besides criticizing the "mistress", the husband was also strongly condemned for his adultery in marriage.
