‘Just a free nanny’: woman in China discovers ex-husband hid US$14 million and gave to daughter from first marriage to avoid divorce payout
- During the divorce proceedings, the court investigated the couple’s finances and revealed the husband had concealed assets from her for two decades
- The court found the man’s claim that his ex-wife was not entitled to his wealth because she did not do paid work was invalid to the rule of division of assets
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A woman in China described by her ex-husband as “just a housewife” who contributed no wealth during their 20-year marriage fought in court for a share of assets worth more than 100 million yuan (US$14 million) he hid from her.
The Shanghai woman, identified by the pseudonym Yu Hong, said she was shocked when informed that her ex-husband, identified as Qin Lan, owned 18 commercial properties, Star Video reported.
The couple were married for more than 20 years, during which Yu worked full-time as a housewife while Qin ran a successful business. The report said she decided to seek a divorce after deciding their marriage had failed. Qin, however, did not want a divorce, and the court rejected the initial application.
As part of the divorce application, the court investigated the couple’s finances and assets, Yu was shocked when she was told her husband had concealed assets worth more than 100 million yuan (US$14 million) from her for two decades.
This left her determined to get a divorce, and applied to the court again six months later, which the court granted.
The court then found that Qin had gifted the 18 commercial properties he owned to his daughter from a previous marriage to avoid handing over a share to Yu.
In court, Qin argued that Yu had nothing to do with his wealth which he said he built himself.
“I built my wealth. She is just a housewife who didn’t work,” Qin said.
In addition, he also said that the assets he planned to give to the child he has with Yu would be more valuable than the commercial properties gifted to his other daughter.
The court was unconvinced and said that Yu’s legal right to a share of the joint assets was protected regardless of whether she held paid employment during the marriage.
The court ruled that Qin’s act of gifting the 18 commercial properties to his daughter was invalid and ordered the girl to return all the assets she had received from Qin.
The story has caused widespread discussion on mainland social media.
One person said: “Truth proves to be stranger than fiction.”
Another person said: “The woman was just a free nanny, not a full-time housewife.”
