Man withdraws ‘deposit for love’ after ex remarries
Source:Global Times Published: 2012-8-22 23:25:04
A local woman agreed to pay 5,000 yuan ($787) to her former lover who sued to get back the 50,000 yuan he said he gave her as a "deposit for love," Jiading District People's Court announced Wednesday.
The plaintiff, whom the court called Yang Cheng, demanded in his lawsuit that the defendant, whom the court dubbed Lü Yan, return the money after she got remarried following their affair, according to a news release from the court.
Yang and Lü began their affair while they were both still married. After several dates, they rented an apartment together, which they kept secret from their spouses. Soon, they were both planning to get divorced so they could be together.
According to the court, Yang said he gave Lü the 50,000 yuan to show that he was serious about divorcing his wife. He called the money a "deposit for love."
As they planned, Lü divorced her husband and urged Yang to do the same. The man balked, however, deciding that he wanted to stay together with his wife for the sake of their child, the court said.
Yang wanted the money back though after he learned that Lü had married an expatriate not long after they split up, which made him angry, the court said.
In court, Lü denied that Yang ever gave her the 50,000 yuan. She acknowledged he had given her some money, a few hundred yuan at a time, which added up to about 20,000 yuan, according to the news release.
Lü said she spent most of it to pay the rent on their apartment and used the remainder for a gym membership and beauty treatments. She also argued that she had spent 20,000 yuan of her own money on their relationship, according to the release.
The court was unable to rule on their case because neither party offered evidence that showed how much money they had spent on the relationship. Instead, the judge asked the couple to resolve the dispute through mediation.