Same-sex lover cheats, seeks to fight for inheritance; Zhiming lawyer skillfully avoids losses
Case Details:
By chance, in 2008, Hong Kong resident Zhou XX and Sichuan native Yang X met in Shenzhen and by the end of the year began cohabiting as a same-sex couple, addressing each other as husband and wife. Until June 2014, when Yang X went to study in the United States, Zhou XX fell for someone else and unilaterally proposed a breakup with Yang X. During this period, Zhou XX transferred a total of over one million yuan to Yang X's account and also paid for a property purchased in Yang X's name in Shenzhen.
In August 2015, Zhou XX again filed a lawsuit in a district court in Shenzhen, claiming "unjust enrichment," demanding that the defendant Yang X return over one million yuan in "unjust enrichment." Previously, Zhou XX had sued Yang X for the return of a huge amount of unjust enrichment from a property purchase. Due to a strategic error in that case, Yang X lost both trials, and the property was seized and auctioned to repay debts. Now Zhou XX repeated the same tactic, seeking the remaining over one million yuan from Yang X. In despair, Yang X and his mother sought out Attorney Wang Tengfeng's team at Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm, tearfully pleading for help.
After accepting the case and hearing the facts, Attorney Wang Tengfeng's team analyzed that the two had lived together for a long time, with their finances highly intermingled in daily life, making their legal relationship akin to both marriage and partnership. Therefore, the plaintiff's claim of "unjust enrichment" should not hold, and the client was instructed to gather evidence in this direction. Through the client's efforts, extensive evidence of joint living expenses between Zhou XX and Yang X was collected, such as joint shopping receipts, travel tickets, movie tickets, bank transaction records, and text and WeChat communications. In court, the defense lawyer argued that during their cohabitation, their property was mixed, with long-term and substantial joint living expenses, strongly refuting the plaintiff's "unjust enrichment" claim. Using skilled litigation techniques, the defense locked in the key fact during the trial investigation phase that the funds Zhou XX claimed as "unjust enrichment" were all transferred during their cohabitation.
Based on this, the district court ruled that the funds in question occurred during the cohabitation period when their accounts were mixed, which had a reasonable basis and did not meet the legal criteria for unjust enrichment. In January 2016, the court dismissed all of Zhou XX's claims. Zhou XX appealed, and Attorney Wang Tengfeng's team continued to represent the appellee. The intermediate court of second instance ultimately adopted the appellee's legal arguments, holding that the two had cohabited for over six years, and the funds in question were paid in multiple installments over several years, making it impossible to confirm that Zhou XX suffered losses while Yang X gained unjust benefits. In August 2016, the court issued a final judgment dismissing Zhou XX's appeal and upholding the original verdict, which was recently served to the defendant. Upon learning of the final victory, the client repeatedly expressed heartfelt gratitude to the attorneys at Zhiming Law Firm.
Post-case note:
This case involves property disputes during cohabitation between same-sex partners, a relatively complex civil litigation. From the plaintiff's perspective, it is neither a typical divorce property dispute nor a standard partnership property dispute; from the defendant's perspective, it is not a typical unjust enrichment property dispute. This litigation requires careful analysis of the facts to accurately determine the legal relationship and respond flexibly and precisely in court, providing the judges with correct reasoning. Otherwise, both the plaintiff and defendant risk losing the case. (All names in this article are pseudonyms.)
