Woman told to return lover’s gift of US$560,000 to his wife after Chinese court ruled illicit affair not recognised by law
- The wife of a man having an affair with another woman, with whom he fathered a child, has sued for the return of money he gave the woman
- The man’s girlfriend said she is also a victim as the man had lied to her that he was already divorced
A Chinese court has ordered the girlfriend of a married man return 3.79 million yuan (US$560,000) he gave her over 14 years to his legal wife, because the affair is “against public customs”.
The case has garnered significant attention in China where it is rare for a woman to reclaim assets given to other partners due to a lack of evidence or knowledge of their legal rights.
According to documents released by the People’s Court of Zhuanghe in Liaoning, northeastern China, a woman, surnamed Li, sued another woman identified by the pseudonym Xiaoxia, seeking the return of 3.79 million yuan Li’s husband had given to the woman since 2008.
Li and her husband, surnamed Wang, have been married since 1991. Wang’s extramarital affair came to Li’s attention two years ago when she discovered he had been sending money to Xiaoxia, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald reported.
Wang admitted his relationship with the woman and revealed that they have a 10-year-old son. In addition to cash payments, he also bought properties and a car for her.
Xiaoxia told the court she is also a victim and that Wang had lied to her that he was divorced. She said she urged him to marry her and have the union registered officially, but said he kept delaying by using various excuses.
The court found that Wang had transferred 1.47 million yuan (US$218,000) to Xiaoxia between 2013 and 2020. He also bought her two flats in 2012 and 2014 worth a total of 1.45 million yuan. In 2013, Wang bought her a car for 870,000 yuan.
In its ruling, the court said neither party of a marriage can spend the couple’s common property without the other’s consent. It means assets acquired during a marriage belong to both partners. It found that Wang had infringed Li’s rights and that his relationship with Xiaoxia goes “against public customs” and is not protected by law.
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Xiaoxia argued that the money given to her by Wang was used to raise their son, but the court said the case was about ownership of assets and not about child support.
However, Xiaoxia has the option to file a separate case and sue Wang for child support to raise their son.
The court ordered Xiaoxia to return the money to Li immediately.
Earlier this month, Sichuan Provincial People’s High Court heard a case brought by a divorced woman against her ex-husband’s girlfriend and ordered she return more than 300,000 yuan (US$44,000) of the former couple’s common property.
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The woman and her husband divorced in 2017. Four years later, she discovered her ex-husband had been seeing another woman while they were married.
The husband’s girlfriend denied they had a romantic relationship, and claimed they were only long-term business partners. She said the money from the man was for business dealings.
However, telephone voice records, chat records on WeChat and transaction records provided by the man’s ex-wife convinced the court the two had been having an affair and ordered the man’s girlfriend to return 200,000 yuan to his former wife – less than the original amount of the claim.
