If You Meet Someone Else During a Divorce Negotiation... "Pay Alimony to the Ex-Spouse" Ruling

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] A ruling has been made that dating another person during the process of a consensual divorce constitutes misconduct that damages the trust of the other party.

On the 2nd, the Busan Family Court recently announced that in a lawsuit for damages filed by Mr. A against Mr. C, who dated Mr. A's ex-wife Ms. B during the consensual divorce procedure, the court ruled that Mr. C is obligated to pay Mr. A 15 million KRW in damages. Mr. A and Ms. B had been married for over 10 years and were in the process of confirming their intention and proceeding with the consensual divorce.

During the consensual divorce procedure with Ms. B, Mr. A discovered that there was dating and misconduct between Ms. B and Mr. C. Consequently, Mr. A filed a lawsuit for damages against Mr. C, who sent a message apologizing to Mr. A. Later, during the trial, Mr. C claimed that "since Mr. A and Ms. B were already at the consensual divorce stage and their marital relationship had effectively broken down before the dating began, he bears no responsibility."

However, the Busan Family Court stated, "The reflection period during a consensual divorce is a time to contemplate maintaining the marital relationship and to make efforts to restore the relationship." It further explained, "Unless there are special circumstances, dating another person during the reflection period of a consensual divorce also constitutes misconduct that interferes with maintaining the marital relationship and damages the trust of the other party."

The Busan Family Court ruled, "The fact that the application for confirming the intention of consensual divorce was made before knowing about the misconduct alone does not justify concluding that the marital relationship was effectively broken down to the extent that it no longer existed and could not be objectively restored," and added, "It is reasonable to view that the relationship between Ms. B and Mr. C significantly influenced the breakdown of the marital relationship."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.