Protecting women's special rights and interests and lawful rights and interests is an important duty of the people's courts. Recently, Judge Shao Chunbi of the Expedited Court of Lantian Court successfully mediated a divorce dispute case in which a "stay-at-home mother" requested financial compensation for housework, effectively safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of women.
Brief facts of the case
Wang Qiang (pseudonym, male) and Li Mei (pseudonym, female) were introduced to each other by a friend, and the two parties registered their marriage in May 2020 and had a son after marriage. In January this year, Li Mei filed a lawsuit for divorce and division of the joint property on the grounds of a broken relationship. At the same time, Li Mei believed that she was at home full-time after marriage and undertook most of the family obligations such as raising children, taking care of the elderly, washing and cooking, and Wang Qiang had little concern or participation in family affairs except for going to work, so she asked Wang Qiang to give financial compensation.
Heard by the courts
Wang Qiang and Li Mei often had conflicts over trivial family matters after marriage, and both parties said that the relationship between the husband and wife broke down and there was no possibility of reconciliation, agreed to divorce, and reached an agreement on issues such as child support and division of joint property, but there was a dispute over whether Wang Qiang should give Li Mei financial compensation for housework.
According to Article 1088 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, "if one of the spouses bears more obligations due to raising children, taking care of the elderly, assisting the other party in work, etc., he or she has the right to request compensation from the other party at the time of divorce, and the other party shall give compensation." The specific measures shall be agreed upon by both parties; If the agreement is not reached, the people's court shall make a judgment. Article 68 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests has similar provisions. In this case, Li Mei did not choose to work after marriage, but took on more family obligations such as raising children, taking care of the elderly, and doing laundry and cooking, and her work for the family should be respected and recognized. In the end, the Lantian Court conducted mediation on the basis of comprehensive consideration of factors such as the duration of the marital relationship, the family's economic situation and personal income, and the two parties reached a mediation agreement, and Wang Qiang agreed to pay Li Mei 40,000 yuan in economic compensation.
What the judge said
In married life, there are often situations where one party has more family obligations, resulting in a large reduction of the time and energy invested in self-development and self-realization, or even completely sacrificing the opportunity for self-development and devoting himself or herself to housework. When the husband and wife divorce and assume more family obligations, the spouse who provides more invisible support to the other spouse will face the dilemma of not being able to protect his rights and interests due to his or her weak financial ability or lack of financial ability, which is obviously unfair. Although housework is unpaid, it is of vital significance to family life and social production, and the value it creates should be recognized and protected by law.
The provisions of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China on "housework compensation" recognize the value of housework at the legal level and affirm the contribution of housework to marriage and family. It should be emphasized that this provision takes care of not only "stay-at-home mothers", but also "stay-at-home fathers", as long as they work more for the family, they should receive due relief.
This case affirms the value of housework by giving economic compensation at the time of divorce, balances the rights and obligations of both husband and wife at the time of divorce, and protects the legitimate rights and interests of the party who bears more family obligations during the existence of the marital relationship, which is in line with the legislative purpose of Article 1088 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, is conducive to educating and guiding husband and wife to respect each other, establishes a good family style in the new era, and is of positive significance for promoting the socialist core values of harmony, equality and rule of law.
The judge reminded that family members need to be honest with each other, fully recognize the different contributions of all parties in the family, and jointly protect a happy family.
Links to legal provisions
Article 1088 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China: If one of the spouses bears more obligations due to raising children, taking care of the elderly, assisting the other party in work, etc., he or she has the right to request compensation from the other party at the time of divorce, and the other party shall give compensation. The specific measures shall be agreed upon by both parties; If the agreement is not reached, the people's court shall make a judgment.
Article 68 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests: Husband and wife shall jointly bear family obligations and take care of family life.
If the woman has more obligations due to raising children, taking care of the elderly, assisting the husband in work, etc., she has the right to demand compensation from the husband at the time of divorce. The compensation method shall be determined by agreement between the two parties; If the agreement is not reached, a lawsuit may be filed in the people's court.
**: Lantian Court
Author:Zhu Junke
Editor: Liu Yixiao
Editor-in-charge: Li Juan
Review: Yao Qiming