Husband hid his mistress all his life and revealed the secret only after his death. Wife was compensated NT$60,000

A woman has been married to her husband for nearly 60 years. After her husband passed away earlier this year, her children unexpectedly turned up two strangers as heirs. After checking her husband’s cell phone, she discovered that her husband had cheated on her and had children and had continued to communicate with her. She was so angry that she filed a lawsuit for NT$800,000. The Tainan District Court ordered the mistress to pay NT$60,000.

The wife argued that she married her husband in 1967 and had four children. Unexpectedly, after her husband passed away on January 19 this year, when the children went through inheritance and declared inheritance tax, they learned that there were two other heirs born in 1979 and 1981 respectively. The woman checked the household registration transcript and learned that the two children were the children of her husband's affair. She was surprised and sad. Further review of the deceased husband’s cell phone and LINE conversation records revealed that the defendant woman not only greeted her husband every day, but also made LINE voice calls, and even went out to meet to maintain their relationship. She believed that the other party knew that her husband was married but still had sex and had children and kept in contact, which seriously violated the rights of a spouse. Therefore, she filed a lawsuit for NT$800,000.

During the trial, the defendant woman did not appear in court after being legally notified by the court, nor did she submit any pleadings or defense. The Tainan District Court found the plaintiff's claim to be true based on evidence such as the household registration transcript, the deceased husband's household registration transcript, the household registration information of the two children born out of wedlock, and screenshots of the LINE conversation between the deceased husband and the defendant woman.

The judge believed that mutual honesty between husband and wife is a necessary condition for maintaining a happy marriage. The defendant woman gave birth to two children and had long-term contact with the plaintiff’s husband during the marriage, which indeed destroyed the plaintiff’s expectations for marital harmony and caused mental pain. However, the judge considered the age, property income status of both parties, and the fact that the plaintiff only learned the truth after her husband passed away. He believed that the compensation of 800,000 yuan was too high, and it was more appropriate to reduce the compensation to 60,000 yuan. The whole case can still be appealed.