A man was ordered by a court in Spain to pay his former wife an amount of £1,80,000 or about ₹1.75 crore as compensation for her two decades of ‘unpaid domestic labour’ during the time they were married. The hefty divorce settlement was calculated on the basis of the annual minimum wage over the period of the couple’s marriage, the New York Post (NYP) reported.
The settlement, calculated by judge Laura Ruiz Alaminos, was awarded to the wife Ivana Moral for her 25 years of service in the marriage. The couple got divorced in 2020. The court has also ordered the man to pay a monthly maintenance of ₹$527 to the wife, and $422 and $633 to the couple’s two daughters, aged 20 and 14.
Sharing her struggles, Moral said she and their daughters were “left with nothing” when the couple divorced, as quoted by the report. “Clearly this was a case of abuse to be completely excluded financially (by her ex-husband) with nothing left after my marriage ended,” Moral said adding that despite giving all her “time, energy, and love” in the family, she and their daughters were left with “nothing”.
Moral, who remained confined to the domestic affairs of the family, claimed she was barely involved in the financial aspects. “I was supporting my husband in his work…did not have access to his financial affairs; everything was in his name,” she said.
While getting married, she was asked to sign a ‘separation of goods agreement’ – allowing the husband to keep his wealth and split their common possessions, she added.
The husband, not named in the suit, reportedly owns a successful gym business and has several luxurious possessions, valued at $6.4 million as revealed in the court hearing in southern Spain’s Velez-Malaga.
Moral said she hoped this case would serve as an example and inspiration for other women to know that “we can claim for housework” despite such (separation of goods) agreements.
