[Invest&Law] Property Division and Alimony Supreme Court Appeal... Are 'Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young' Still Married?

Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young Both Will Not Appeal Divorce

As the appeal trial for the divorce lawsuit between Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, is underway, controversy has arisen over whether their divorce has been finalized. Both parties filed for divorce as plaintiffs in the main lawsuit (filed by Chey Tae-won) and the counterclaim (filed by Noh So-young).

Previously, the first and second trial courts accepted Director Noh's divorce petition, and Chairman Chey is known to have only appealed regarding property division and alimony. Director Noh did not appeal. Both parties requested divorce from the court, which accepted their requests, and neither appealed the divorce portion.

A mid-level judge who previously served as a Supreme Court judicial researcher stated, "Divorce, property division, and alimony claims are separate matters, so the divorce itself has been separately finalized." Therefore, the prevailing view is that, both logically and legally, the divorce has already been finalized.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

An anonymous legal scholar, an authority in family law, said, "If the divorce was granted in the first trial and no appeal was made against that divorce, the first trial's divorce ruling becomes final when the appellate court's judgment is pronounced." A chief judge at the Seoul Central District Court explained, "Property division is premised on divorce, so it is impossible for property division to be finalized first and divorce later, but it is possible for divorce to be finalized first and property division afterward. Since these are separate consolidated lawsuits, the finalization of divorce does not affect property division."

An attorney who formerly served as the chief of the family division at a high court, speaking anonymously, said, "There is a Supreme Court precedent (2009므1946) that when a primary family lawsuit such as a divorce petition and a secondary family non-litigious case such as a petition for designation of parental authority and custody are consolidated into one lawsuit, only the divorce petition portion is considered separately finalized. In practice, there are cases where, after partial mediation in cases combining divorce, alimony, and property division claims, the remaining claims are additionally examined and judged, effectively separating and mediating only the divorce petition portion."

There are also some differing opinions. A former family court judge now working as a law firm attorney said, "Since neither party used the divorce itself as a ground for appeal, the appellate court has no room to reconsider the 'divorce,' so the appellate court's conclusion on divorce will not change. However, it cannot be said that the 'divorce has been finalized.'” It is known that Chairman Chey applied to the Seoul High Court Family Division 2, the appellate court, for a certificate of divorce finalization, but the application was not accepted.

Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, is attending the second trial hearing of the divorce lawsuit with Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, held on the 9th at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The certificate of finalization application is a procedure requesting proof that the trial has been completely concluded. It is known that the appellate court's rejection of the application was based on another Supreme Court precedent (2013므139). In that case, A filed a lawsuit against B for divorce, alimony, and property division. The appellate court granted A's divorce petition and partially granted the property division claim while dismissing the remaining appeals.

Afterward, while the appeal was pending, the plaintiff died in March 2013, and in April of the same year, the Supreme Court ruled, "When a divorce lawsuit combined with claims for alimony and property division arising from the divorce is ongoing, and one spouse dies, the divorce lawsuit terminates. Furthermore, the claims for alimony and property division, which are incidental to the divorce lawsuit, also terminate simultaneously as they lose their purpose upon the termination of the divorce lawsuit."

There are opinions that the court should actively accept applications for certificates of divorce finalization. A former chief judge turned attorney said, "When there are multiple claims and only some are finalized while others are not, even the parts that were finalized remain effectively unconfirmed. Since divorce registration and other procedures may take longer, this can cause difficulties for the parties involved."

A family litigation specialist attorney also said, "In this case, the divorce can be considered finalized, but since it is bundled into one lawsuit, there is a practical problem that applications for certificates of finalization are not accepted. Judicial divorce requires the trial to be finalized for the divorce to be effective, so there is a need to review improvements."

Park Su-yeon & Han Soo-hyun, Legal Newspaper reporters

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.