Thirty years of "divorce" separation invalid, now sued for division of billions in assets
Recently, a divorce dispute case involving a claim for substantial property, handled by the Wang Tengfeng lawyer team from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm, was ultimately concluded through a settlement after the opposing party made concessions.
In August 1978, Mr. Zhang and Ms. Zhao registered their marriage. In May 1990, due to the breakdown of their relationship, Mr. Zhang wrote a Declaration stating that he would take his personal belongings and move out, meaning that the two would no longer live together from that point on, and Ms. Zhao agreed and signed it. In July 1993, Mr. Zhang and Ms. Zhao signed a Divorce Agreement specifying child custody and property division, and even stated that “upon both parties’ signatures, both parties shall be deemed to have severed the marital relationship, with no interference in any matters whatsoever, and should any matters arise, each party shall bear responsibility separately.” Mr. Zhang, who knew nothing about the law, believed that such a Divorce Agreement constituted the completion of divorce procedures and meant that he was already divorced. Thereafter, the two lived separately and had no further contact. Isolated and helpless, Mr. Zhang body penniless ， and wandering outside, he decided [1] Entrepreneurship and Development .
After years of hard work, Mr. Zhang's career flourished, his business grew larger and larger, and he amassed a fortune worth hundreds of millions. In 2010, the successful Mr. Zhang met Ms. Sun, and the two fell in love and spent ten years together. In 2020, Ms. Sun gave birth to a son for Mr. Zhang, and Mr. Zhang, who had not experienced the joy of family for a long time, quickly spread the news. But when Ms. Zhao learned of this, the “divorce” bomb that had been hidden for thirty years finally exploded.
Ms. Zhao filed a lawsuit against Mr. Zhang, accusing him of failing to return home for many years after marriage, cohabiting with Ms. Sun and having children, which seriously violated the duty of marital fidelity, and even threatened to accuse Mr. Zhang of criminal bigamy. Ms. Zhao demanded a divorce, as well as the transfer of two properties under Mr. Zhang’s name worth a total of 50 million yuan, plus a one-time compensation of 100 million yuan, totaling 150 million yuan. Mr. Zhang now felt tremendous pressure and a deep sense of injustice. How could it be that they had already “divorced” 30 years ago, yet now he still had to divide the massive fortune he had worked so hard to accumulate?
Due to the fact that the case not only involves a large amount of property, but also involves significant criminal and civil handover cases, Mr. Zhang dare not easily entrust the case to any law firm. He visited everywhere, compared prices, and finally found the Wang Tengfeng legal team from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm, which specializes in difficult and complex cases, with a lucky mentality. After some negotiations with Lawyer Wang, he was deeply convinced by his innovative strategy and methods for handling major and complex cases. Therefore, he immediately decided to entrust the case to the team of Lawyer Wang Tengfeng from Zhiming Law Firm.
After taking the case, Attorney Wang Tengfeng led Attorney Cao Guanghui and their assistants in a careful review of the case. They discovered that over the past 30 years, Mr. Zhang had not only had no marital relationship with Ms. Zhao but also no overlap in their lives whatsoever. From leaving with nothing to becoming the successful individual he is today, Mr. Zhang achieved everything through his own hard work. His company was founded and developed after he walked away with nothing. However, the most thorny issue in the case remained that “marriage certificate.” On the surface, Mr. Zhang and Ms. Zhao were still legally married in name at the time of the litigation, making Ms. Zhao’s demand for divorce and division of property appear entirely reasonable. The case hit a dead end and seemed to be an unsolvable one.
But in the eyes of Lawyer Wang Tengfeng, this was quickly simplified, and he cleverly broke through this dilemma by using strategic thinking and creative methods of literary and artistic rights litigation. He hit the nail on the head and pointed out the key to this case; The two of them lived separately like a divorce, without interfering with each other; And during their brief marriage, Ms. Zhao made significant mistakes before marriage. It was only because Mr. Zhang lacked legal knowledge that he did not follow the legal procedures for divorce, not as Ms. Zhao claimed; Betrayal of Family;Lawyer Wang skillfully employed a combination of reason, emotion, and legal principles, forcing the opposing party to retreat and compromise, significantly reducing their exorbitant demands.A settlement was reached with our side, and the case was ultimately concluded with a mediation document.
On a certain day in March 2021, we received the mediation agreement for this case. We not only significantly reduced the amount of property to be divided, but also greatly extended the payment period. Lawyer Cao immediately informed Mr. Zhang of this great news. Mr. Zhang couldn't hide his joy and sent a thank-you message with great excitement (please see the picture below for details), once again verifying the magic of literary and artistic rights litigation!
