Lawyers Involved: Chief Lawyer Tang Yunhong, Qian Xinxin

Case Summary

In December 2014, Ms. Li met Mr. Huang through an introduction. Mr. Huang had a decent family background, with his father running a factory and owning certain assets. His mother, as a housewife, was very concerned about Mr. Huang's life and education. Before marriage, Mr. Huang owned a fully paid apartment and a mortgage apartment in Shenzhen. Although Ms. Li's family was not as wealthy as Mr. Huang's and her personal education was not as outstanding, she had a beautiful appearance, was positive and upward-looking, and had strong work abilities. At that time, Mr. Huang had also reached an appropriate age for marriage, and they began to interact with the aim of getting married.

On July 27, 2015, Ms. Li and Mr. Huang registered their marriage at the Marriage Registration Office in Luohu District, Shenzhen. In September 2016, Ms. Li gave birth to a daughter, Huang Yiyi (pseudonym).

After marriage, the couple lived together in Mr. Huang's mortgage apartment. His mother often came to visit and take care of the granddaughter. It was at this time that the family issues that had not been apparent before marriage emerged, sowing the seeds of the breakdown of Ms. Li and Mr. Huang's marriage.

As a housewife, Mr. Huang's mother had been very caring and strict in her son's life, education, and work since he was young. After moving to the new family, she found many things about her daughter-in-law unacceptable and felt that her son was perfect in every way. There were also obvious generational differences in the care of Yiyi.

In 2017, Ms. Li had an argument with Mr. Huang's mother, and Mr. Huang, as a husband and son, did nothing. After that, such situations occurred frequently, and Mr. Huang's inaction gradually made Ms. Li feel despondent. In 2019, Ms. Li moved out of the shared residence with Yiyi, and Mr. Huang paid a certain amount of child support each month. Initially, Mr. Huang would come to visit Yiyi one to two times a month, but as time went on and the Shenzhen epidemic became severe, he had not visited Yiyi for a year. However, as a father, Mr. Huang still paid child support each month.

In May 2022, Ms. Li turned to the Dao Hua Family Law Firm for help, requesting to dissolve the marriage with Mr. Huang, to have custody of daughter Yiyi, and for Mr. Huang to pay 3,000 yuan in child support monthly, paid annually. Regarding the joint property of the couple, Ms. Li said she had no interest in or desire to claim it.

Case Outcome

The case was successfully resolved through mediation. Custody of daughter Yiyi was awarded to Ms. Li, and Mr. Huang was required to pay 5,000 yuan in child support monthly, to be paid annually by March 31st each year. Other property of the couple was to be retained by each party.

The Process of Handling the Case by Dao Hua Lawyers

After Ms. Li turned to the Dao Hua Family Law Firm, she clearly stated her demands: 1) divorce; 2) custody and child support. After understanding the entire case, it was determined that Ms. Li's case did not meet the statutory conditions for divorce. Although Mr. Huang's inaction led to the breakdown of the couple's relationship, the root of the conflict was with Mr. Huang's mother; and although the couple had been separated since 2019, Mr. Huang had been paying for Yiyi's expenses each month, and even played with her during the holidays. The Civil Code requires two years of separation due to "incompatibility of feelings" and no emotional or economic exchanges. Ms. Li's situation involved economic exchanges with Mr. Huang, and she could not be considered to have separated due to incompatibility of feelings, making it very difficult to obtain a divorce judgment.

Secondly, regarding the custody of Yiyi, it was likely that there would be no problem. Yiyi is a girl who is now over six years old and has been living with Ms. Li since she was three years old. However, in terms of child support, Mr. Huang had been paying 3,000 yuan per month. After understanding the specific circumstances of the case and Ms. Li's indifference to the appreciation of the mortgage property, Lawyer Tang hoped to help Ms. Li obtain as much as possible.

Therefore, when filing the lawsuit, the strategy was to take the initiative, demanding 1) divorce; 2) custody and 6,000 yuan per month in child support; 3) an average division of the appreciation of the mortgage property in Mr. Huang's name, according to the calculation standards of the Shenzhen Intermediate Court.

The Dao Hua Family Law Firm explained to Ms. Li in detail the purpose of this approach, because if the other party did not agree to the divorce, we could not obtain a divorce judgment through the court. Therefore, we would strive to resolve the case at the pre-litigation mediation stage. To gain the initiative in negotiations, we would make our demands as high as possible and gradually make concessions during the negotiation process, giving the other party a "winning" illusion, which would make mediation more likely to succeed.

Finally, through the intervention of the court, both parties agreed to dissolve the marriage, and the Dao Hua Family Law Firm successfully secured custody of daughter Yiyi for Ms. Li and exceeded expectations in child support.

Extrajudicial Opinions

Every family has its own difficult problems, and love is the only reason for marriage. If the unhappiness brought by a marriage exceeds the energy it brings, then learning to let go may be the beginning of another happy chapter.

Life is not just about love and marriage. Both parties, because of age, met through an introduction, fell in love, and got married, only to find that neither their personalities nor their family backgrounds could blend well. This marriage, brought about by so-called "pressured marriage," may have been wrong from the very beginning.

Although there is no marriage that cannot be dissolved in the world, it is actually very difficult to get a divorce in one go if the other party does not agree. The Dao Hua Family Law Firm approaches the case from multiple angles, professionally, meticulously, and strategically, fully understanding the case itself and the claims of the parties, fully analyzing the case for the clients, and gaining the trust of the parties so that the goals of the parties can be achieved.

Devoted to resolving major property-related family and marriage disputes, handling every divorce case, and striving for the maximum happiness and benefits for each client, the Dao Hua Family Law Firm has been committed to and consistently pursuing these goals.