Having seen too many cold marriage dilemmas in reality: the once intimate bed partner, once stricken with illness and losing the ability to care for oneself and earn a living, the warmth of the past is completely dissipated. Many partners, feeling weary of the medical expenses and tired of daily care, choose to turn a blind eye, move out of the residence, or even insist on divorce to completely shed this burden of life.

  Many people mistakenly believe that marriage is entirely based on voluntary choice, and once affection fades, there is no need to bear the responsibility of care. They pursue personal freedom and ignore it. However, marriage has never been just a mutual companionship during smooth times, but also a legally binding responsibility in times of difficulty. When one spouse is seriously ill and bedridden, the other has no right to refuse to support them. This is not moral coercion, but a legal mandatory obligation that every couple must fulfill.

  Most people in life have cognitive misunderstandings, knowing that parents have the legal obligation to raise their children and children to support their elderly parents, but they ignore the most core mutual assistance responsibility between spouses. Article 1059 of the Civil Code explicitly stipulates that spouses have the obligation to support each other. As long as the marriage relationship is not dissolved, when one spouse is seriously ill and loses the ability to live independently, the other spouse who has the ability to bear the burden must fulfill the obligation of support. This obligation is not just to pay medical expenses and bear living expenses, but also includes close care, daily living care, and the guarantee of daily food and clothing. Unjustified abandonment and cold indifference to the spouse itself constitutes a violation of the law.

  Refusing to fulfill the obligation of supporting the spouse is not just to suffer moral condemnation, but also to bear clear legal consequences. The seriously ill party can directly sue the court to claim that the other party pay alimony and medical expenses; if the judgment is still not fulfilled after the judgment takes effect, the court can enforce the execution of the property under the name of the other party. If one party is abandoned for a long time, leading to the other party being left without care and the condition worsening, the situation is severe, and it may constitute the crime of abandonment. According to Article 261 of the Criminal Law, the maximum penalty may be five years in prison. Especially when the seriously ill spouse loses civil legal capacity, the healthy party, as the legal guardian, has a lower threshold for criminal responsibility for failing to perform their duties, and the legal risks are great.

  Some people also want to evade the responsibility of support through divorce, but this path is also not feasible. When one party is seriously ill and unable to live independently, the court will prioritize the rights and interests of the vulnerable party when hearing divorce cases; even if the divorce is approved, according to Article 1090 of the Civil Code, the healthy party will still be ordered to provide economic assistance and bear the subsequent medical and living expenses, so that the seriously ill spouse will not fall into a desperate situation.

  The promise of not leaving each other when getting married is never empty words, but a double constraint of conscience and the law. Sharing happiness together is the norm of marriage, and facing difficulties together is the bottom line of marriage. The law restrains human selfishness, holds on to the last guarantee in the extreme, and also wishes that everyone can hold on to the original intention of marriage, sail through storms together, and not let down the person next to you.