"Mother-in-law Who Hid Husband's Affair for 4 Years... Can She Be Held Responsible for Divorce?"

Mother-in-law Who Hid Husband's Affair for 4 Years
"Compensation and Alimony Claims Possible"

Reference photo to aid understanding of the article. [Photo by Getty Images]

Can a mother-in-law who hid her husband's affair for four years and demanded care from her daughter-in-law be held responsible for divorce? Experts have expressed the opinion that it is possible to claim damages and consolation money related to illegal acts against the mother-in-law in such cases.

On the 11th, JTBC's 'Case Manager' shared a story reported by a woman in her 40s, Ms. A. Married 15 years ago, Ms. A was running a large chicken restaurant inherited from her in-laws.

The problem arose when her husband started a Chinese cosmetics business. Ms. A explained, "About 4 to 5 years ago, when COVID-19 spread, my husband only returned to Korea once every 1 to 2 years." Despite her husband’s absence, Ms. A continued to run the chicken restaurant diligently on her own, but her mother-in-law forced her to endure harsh treatment, saying, "You should know you live off my grace." When Ms. A, unable to bear it any longer, declared to her mother-in-law, "I will divorce and live on my own," the mother-in-law comforted her by saying, "My son will come back to Korea next year, so please wait a little longer. When the grandchild goes to college, I will buy you an apartment."

Mother-in-law hid husband's affair for 4 years... "Can the mother-in-law also be held responsible for the divorce?"

However, not long after, a shocking event occurred. A woman estimated to be in her 30s came to the store and introduced herself as "the mistress living with Ms. A’s husband in China." This woman demanded money from Ms. A, saying, "Your husband borrowed money from me for his business and ran away."

Even more shocking was that the mistress acted familiar as soon as she saw Ms. A’s mother-in-law. Angered, Ms. A confronted her mother-in-law, who confessed, "Four years ago, I heard from my son that he had a woman in China." She added, "I tried to stop him from seeing her, but he didn’t listen. I did visit China to meet (the mistress), but it was to tell my son to break up with her," she explained.

Ms. A told the 'Case Manager' team, "I have already decided to divorce my husband," and asked, "Can I hold my mother-in-law responsible for the divorce as well, since she hid my son’s affair and received care from me for four years?" Lawyer Park Ji-hoon explained, "The husband’s behavior seems sufficient grounds for divorce," and added, "Since there was also deception by the mother-in-law, it seems possible to claim damages and consolation money related to illegal acts against her."

Netizens who read the story responded with various comments such as "Like mother, like son," "They probably needed a servant, not a daughter-in-law," "Why don’t they realize that covering up wrongdoing only pushes their children into a swamp," "Would they act like this if it were their own daughter?" "A daughter-in-law is also a precious child to someone," "Seeing this, living alone seems best," "If you feel it’s not right, ending it quickly is the answer," and "You should separate from such a family as soon as possible."