‘Are you our mum?’: vanishing Taiwan mother reappears as ‘unemployed nun’ to make bizarre cash bid from kids she hadn’t seen for almost 50 years

After “vanishing” for almost half a century, a mother in Taiwan has suddenly reappeared and launched a legal claim for a monthly allowance of NT$14,000 (US$470) from her son and daughter.

According to Taiwan’s China Times, the woman, surnamed Lin, who disappeared after divorcing her husband in 1976, recently reappeared and launched her bizarre bid for cash based on the fact that she was an unemployed nun.

Her bizarre legal bid was rejected by the courts but the case has caused quite a stir among people on the island.

Quoting from the court judgment, the China Times reported that Lin’s children, who were raised by her husband after the divorce, had not seen their mother since they were very young children.

As a result, it was now difficult to confirm whether the “nun” who had suddenly reappeared was really their mother.

In court, Lin pleaded that she had no property registered in her name, was living in dire straits and therefore her children should each pay her a monthly maintenance fee of NT$7,006, totalling NT$14,012, until her death.

The father told the court that after 1976, the two children had been under his and his parents’ care and that his ex-wife had never contacted them, let alone helped raise them.

The court, in Tainan, a southern city on the island, found that Lin had not fulfilled her obligations as a parent and dismissed her application.

On PTT, a popular anonymous forum in Taiwan, the incident has generated significant debate.

Some people speculated that the mother, who had been missing for 47 years, was indirectly using her maintenance claim and the court ruling to qualify for a government subsidy.

Others expressed disbelief and anger, with one person commenting: “Doesn’t the temple care about her?”