Having to fork out a big chunk of change is something most people would rather not do. A controversial ruling in a Chinese court ordered a woman to pay 3.79 million yuan or $560,000 to her lover’s wife because their relationship wasn’t recognized by law.
Although scorned wives suing their husband’s lovers has been done before, most of the time it ends in divorce. A recent case saw one wife sue her husband’s mistress to return all the material possessions he had given her during their affair. The court ended up siding with the wife and ordered the mistress to repay nearly 4 million yuan to her lover’s wife.
According to court documents, the wife surnamed Li and her husband, Wang, had been married since 1991. In 2008, Wang started his affair with his mistress, who was identified as the pseudonym Xiaoxia. Li found out about her husband’s affair a few years ago when she realized he had been regularly sending the mistess money.
Wang admitted to his affair along with the bomb of also fathering a 10-year-old son with Xiaoxia. He had been supporting them for years by sending money (a total of $217,700 over seven years), providing two apartments (worth $214,700) and a car (worth $128,800).
Xiaoxia argued her case claiming she had no idea Wang was married and that the money she received went to child support. With her outlandish purchases, the court refused to buy it and the mistress must now return a total of $560,000 to her lover’s wife.
The court did tell Xiaoxia that she does have the option to file a separate case and sue Wang for child support but it might be difficult to succeed since their relationship “goes against public customs.”