Divorce and division of marital property

Divorce in court and claim for division of property

When one spouse has committed misconduct, such as adultery or desertion of the other, the other spouse may file for divorce in court and also claim division of property, designation of the child's guardian and child support, alimony, and so on.

Of these, alimony is a claim against the spouse at fault for damages for mental suffering, while division of property is an equalization of property formed during the marriage according to each party's contribution, regardless of fault.

In the past, when the wife was a full-time homemaker, her contribution was recognized at a low rate, so she received far less than the husband at fault. However, recently, even if she is a full-time homemaker, if the marriage was long, her contribution to property formation is recognized up to 50:50.

Recently, lawyer Joo Youngjae achieved a favorable division of property in a divorce case. We will introduce that case.

Facts

The defendant (the client) married the plaintiff about 10 years ago, and they had two daughters. As the defendant focused on work to support the family, the couple's relationship grew distant. The plaintiff was dissatisfied that the defendant came home late and often got annoyed with her, while the defendant was dissatisfied that the plaintiff, despite being a full-time homemaker, neglected housework and childcare. They frequently quarreled for these reasons and due to personality differences, and eventually the plaintiff left home, leaving the defendant and the children behind.

Some time later, the plaintiff filed a divorce suit, alleging that the defendant had committed adultery and violence, and claimed 30,000,000 Korean won in alimony and 90,000,000 Korean won in division of property from the defendant.

Surprised, the defendant asked lawyer Joo Youngjae for help, saying that he was not at fault and that his only property, the lease deposit of 180,000,000 Korean won, had been received from his parents and could never be divided.

Lawyer Joo Youngjae's assistance

To avoid liability for alimony, lawyer Joo Youngjae argued that all of the plaintiff's claims of the defendant's fault were false and that the plaintiff was actually at fault, and he filed a counterclaim against the plaintiff for divorce, alimony, child support, division of property, and so on.

In addition, regarding division of property, lawyer Joo Youngjae argued that the lease deposit, the defendant's only property, was money borrowed from the defendant's parents and thus not subject to division, and that even if it were subject to division, both parties should equally bear the obligation to repay the loan.

Settlement reached

During the proceedings, the court referred the case to mediation. The mediation judge accepted most of lawyer Joo Youngjae's arguments and proposed a settlement favorable to the defendant. The proposed settlement was that both parties would waive their claims for alimony, the plaintiff would receive only 30,000,000 Korean won (a contribution rate of about 17%) as division of property, and the plaintiff would pay the defendant 500,000 Korean won per month in child support.

Feeling burdened by the mediation judge's proposal, the plaintiff thought that a judgment would be even more disadvantageous, so he reluctantly accepted the proposal.

In the end, thanks to lawyer Joo Youngjae's active response, the defendant (the client) achieved a favorable outcome, paying only one-third of the amount the plaintiff had claimed and receiving a much larger amount in child support.