Dahua Case Analysis | Adult Child Successfully Claims 280,000 Yuan in Child Support from Parents During Minor Years

Case Summary

The plaintiff's (our party) parents were registered as married in 1994. The plaintiff was born in December 1999. After the plaintiff's birth, a romantic dispute occurred between her parents. The defendant (the plaintiff's father) drove the mother and daughter out of the house and lost contact with them. Since then, the parents have officially separated, and the plaintiff's mother has been living alone with the plaintiff in their hometown.

During that period, the plaintiff's mother repeatedly proposed to take the plaintiff back to Shenzhen for living and studying, and requested the defendant to pay the plaintiff's maintenance expenses for living, education, medical care, etc., all of which were refused.

All along, the defendant has had a stable job, income, and investment returns, and has long-term rented out the property jointly owned with the plaintiff's mother. During the marriage, the defendant also frequently sent valuable jewelry, clothing, and other items to extramarital third parties, even buying multiple properties for them, but never paid the plaintiff's child support. At the time of divorce, the defendant also refused to pay the child's previous support expenses.

Focus issue

1. The plaintiff is now an adult. Has the statute of limitations expired for the claim for child support during the period of minority?

2. Should the defendant pay child support for the plaintiff when he was a minor?

The court believes

The first-instance court believes:

"Minor children who cannot live independently" refers to adult children who are still in high school or lower education, or who have lost or have not completely lost their ability to work, and are unable to maintain a normal life due to reasons not caused by their own subjective reasons. According to the legislative purpose of China's Marriage Law and relevant judicial interpretations, the main purpose of parents bearing the child support is to maintain the basic living standards of minors and children who cannot live independently, to ensure their basic rights to survival and education, and to ensure their healthy growth. Therefore, the legal nature of child support is different from that of ordinary debts. After the child reaches adulthood, the basis for paying child support no longer exists, and the child cannot claim the child support that the parents should have provided during their minority. In this case, the plaintiff is now an adult and has not submitted evidence to prove that they belong to the "children who cannot live independently" as defined by law. Therefore, the plaintiff's request for the father to pay child support before the age of 18 has no legal basis, and the court does not support it.

The appellate court believes:

The court believes that this case is a child support dispute, and the claim for child support is not subject to the provisions of the statute of limitations. The appellant (plaintiff, our party) requests the payment of child support from his father during his minority. His lawsuit meets the legal requirements, and the court should conduct a substantive review of this matter. Both parties confirm that the appellant has lived with his mother in their hometown since February 2001, while the respondent (defendant, father) has been living in Shenzhen. Therefore, the appellant claims that the respondent should pay for his living expenses, educational expenses, and other child support during his minority, and the reasons are justified. ... The appellant was only two years old when he returned to his hometown in February 2001 and lived there until he turned 18, a total of 16 years. The actual needs for living and studying in the hometown, as well as the local price levels, varied year by year during this period. Considering the average consumption level over the 16 years, combined with the respondent's self-reported income, it is determined that the respondent should pay the appellant child support at a standard of 1500 yuan per month. Therefore, the total child support that the respondent should pay is 288,000 yuan.

Case outcome: We won the case

First-instance judgment:

Deny all the plaintiff's claims.

Second-instance judgment:

1. Set aside the civil judgment of the Nanshan District People's Court of Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province (2018) Yue 0305 Minchu ***.

2. The respondent shall pay the appellant child support of 288,000 yuan within ten days from the date of the effectiveness of this judgment.

Conclusion of the investigating lawyer

This case is a very typical one where an adult child is seeking child support from their parents for the period when they were minors. The parents have been separated for many years, and the mother raised the child alone. Throughout the child's growth, the father not only failed to provide any emotional care but also did not pay child support. This situation continued from the child's birth until they reached adulthood, which is quite touching.

In practice, when a child is young, the parent directly caring for the child needs to take care of and accompany the child alone, while also bearing the child's maintenance fees on their own. At this time, it is difficult for the parent directly caring for the child to find time and energy to claim maintenance fees on behalf of the child from the other parent, and this can only be left for the child to do on their own after they reach adulthood. At this point, a difficult question often arises: Can an adult child claim maintenance fees from their parents? This is the focal point of the dispute in this case, and it is also the fundamental reason why this case has become a typical one.

Therefore, during the litigation process, we made several profound arguments from both moral and legal perspectives. Ultimately, the second-instance court recognized the views of our team, thereby determining that adult children seeking alimony from their parents for the period of their minority is in accordance with the statutory conditions.

The father clearly has the ability to support his child, but he has been neglecting his responsibilities for years. Adding to this is the hardship the child's mother endured in raising him alone, which leads to a mix of emotions such as anger, resentment, and suppression. The child is likely to develop a resentful attitude towards his father, and may act impulsively. It is very necessary to seek the help of a professional lawyer at this time. Under the guidance and assistance of a lawyer, pursuing child support from the father who does not fulfill his parental responsibilities through legal means is a wise course of action. Of course, the child's mother retains records and documents of his growth process, which also provide a favorable guarantee for the child to secure his legitimate rights and interests.