Man in China seeks snap split from wife, wants half of US$28 million inheritance

A China divorce lawsuit in which a man is seeking half of 200 million yuan (US$28 million) his wife recently inherited has captivated mainland social media.

The wife is the only child of multimillionaire parents who died in a road accident earlier this year, the Shanghai Legal Daily reported.

The woman, surnamed Kang, became the sole heir of nine pieces of residential and commercial real estate across Shanghai, more than 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million) in bank deposit, plus some financial products.

The assets have a combined value of 200 million yuan, according to the report.

Six months after her parents passed away, Kang received a surprise court summons saying that her husband, surnamed Wang, wanted to divorce her due to the fact that “they were on bad terms”.

Shocked Kang tried to contact her husband but found his phone was turned off and he had moved out of their home.

Days later she received another notice from the court that Wang wanted to share her parents’ inheritance.

Kang’s parents died intestate.

Tan Fang, director of Shanghai Family and Family Law Firm, said China’s Civil Code stipulates that any inheritance during a marriage should be shared by the couple.

“The assets you inherit from your parents are the joint property of you and Wang,” Tan told Kang.

Kang said she was suddenly struck by the realisation that Wang studied law at university and regularly read law books.

“If my parents had not died, or if they hadn’t left me so much inheritance, would you still divorce me?” She asked her estranged husband.

Wang defended himself by saying: “There is no love between us. This is not related to the death of your parents.”

Tan said it was important for parents to make a proper will, setting out exactly where they want their inheritance to go.

“Making a plan in advance could prevent this kind of tragedy from happening,” she told the newspaper.

The lawsuit quickly became the subject of much discussion online, and the story has been viewed 400 million times on Weibo alone.

“This shows that it is necessary to make a will. Otherwise, there might be trouble involving the inheritance,” said one online observer.

“I suggest the police investigate her parents’ car accident. Maybe this man has some role in it,” another online observer speculated.

Stories of couples fighting over property during a divorce often trend on mainland social media.

Earlier this month, a man in the southwestern province of Sichuan sued his social media influencer ex-wife and demanded a share of her Douyin account with 800,000 followers, estimated to be worth US$280,000.

After court mediation, the two parties agreed that the man paid the woman 200,000 yuan for the right to use the account.