Chapter 173 - 110: A Tricky Method

When most people fight for custody, they aren’t actually fighting for the child. Their claims of wanting what’s best for the child aren’t for the child’s sake at all.

It’s simply for the child support payments!

"Child support is generally around twenty percent of one’s salary."

"It’s not a fixed monetary amount, but rather a ’percentage.’ This means that low-income individuals generally don’t face gold diggers fighting them for custody."

"Because the amount awarded by the court might not even be enough to cover the cost of raising the child."

"Not to mention the child would be a burden, affecting her future prospects."

"For high-income earners, on the other hand..."

As he said this, Xu De paused, looking at Wang Yu with a faint smile.

"If I’m not mistaken, Mr. Wang, your wife is fighting for custody of your child, correct?"

Wang Yu hesitated. His lips moved for a moment, but he ultimately just nodded in silent agreement.

Twenty percent of a high earner’s salary is an extremely high amount of money.

Wang Yu’s average monthly income was 2,700. Twenty percent of that was 540!

Five hundred and forty might not sound like a lot, but this was 2003! For most people, 540 was almost a full month’s wages!

For the party with custody, that was a steady six thousand in extra income per year.

Moreover, Wang Yu’s salary would increase in the future. In ten years, his current 2,700 a month would increase by at least seven or eight times!

At that point, even if she didn’t work at all, she’d have a monthly income of five to six thousand...

And this would continue... for a full 18 years!

Eighteen whole years of extra income. Not even a pension pays out for that long.

It would continue until the child came of age. And once the child was an adult, she could switch from leeching off her ’ex-husband’ to leeching off her ’child.’ She could just wait a few years for the child to start working and continue to bleed them dry.

As for how to counter this...

The answer was.

"You can’t."

"Mr. Wang, when it comes to child custody, there’s no way to counter this."

"But then again, you don’t need to."

Xu De continued, pointing out the core of the problem Wang Yu was facing.

"You just have to nip it in the bud!"

In other words, don’t let her get custody in the first place.

But...

"But I’ve looked into the laws."

"My son is only four years old. There’s at least an 85 percent chance custody will be awarded to her..."

Wang Yu’s face was grim, and his words were filled with despair.

"Unless she voluntarily gives up her custody rights."

"But since we’ve already taken this to court... she’ll never give it up."

The law doesn’t favor one gender over the other.

But then again...

Several laws combined can give one gender a distinct advantage!

Have you noticed? Everything mentioned above is fine when applied to a normal woman; it’s simply the legal protection of her rights and interests.

But what if the woman is a gold digger!?

First.

According to Article 1084, Paragraph 3 of the Civil Code, it is clearly stipulated:

[For children under two years of age, the guiding principle is direct custody by the mother. For children two years of age and older, if the parents cannot reach an agreement on custody, the People’s Court shall make a ruling based on the specific circumstances of both parties.]

Under two, custody is 100% awarded to the mother. Between the ages of two and eight, there’s an 85% probability it’s awarded to the mother.

And a gold digger is still a mother.

Second.

According to Article 1085 of the Civil Code, the text explicitly states:

[After a divorce, if the child is under the direct custody of one party, the other party shall be responsible for part or all of the child support payments.]

Viewed separately, these two legal articles don’t seem like a big deal.

But what happens when you look at them together!?

The gold digger uses Article 1084 to secure custody of the child, then follows up with Article 1085 to get child support!

This practically creates a closed loop, turning gender into a huge advantage!

Don’t forget the division of assets, either.

When dividing assets during a divorce, the judge will, for the sake of the child, give a larger share of the property to the party with custody.

A situation that should have been a 50/50 split, which is already a loss, could turn into a 70/30 split—7 for the woman, 3 for the man.

These three rules work in tandem, creating a nearly irrefutable, airtight trap. This is what leads so many men in society to fear divorce proceedings.

There’s simply no way to fight it...

"Unless you can take the child."

Xu De suddenly spoke up, staring at Wang Yu and saying, word by word:

"Unless, Mr. Wang, you—already being a viable candidate for custody—take the child!"

"Do that,"

"and that 70/30 split in her favor will become a 70/30 split in yours!"

That’s right.

Unless you can win custody, that is. This is the absolute heart of any divorce case. While judges care about who is at fault, they care far more about the child.

’The word ’minor’ is heavier than you can possibly imagine. To say it’s the Himalaya of the judicial world is an understatement!’

"But, didn’t you just say..."

"...that women have a natural advantage when it comes to getting custody...?"

Wang Yu let out a deep sigh.

He had worked in the internet industry in Lusen City for many years and could solve countless difficult coding problems, yet right now... he just felt utterly powerless.

Xu De didn’t refute his point.

"In theory, that’s correct."

"However..."

"No article of law is absolute!"

With that,

Xu De didn’t hesitate to reveal the solution to the biggest hurdle in his client’s predicament.

"According to Article 44 of the Supreme People’s Court’s Interpretation on the Application of Marriage and Family Law."

"It outlines three conditions: the mother has an incurable infectious disease or other serious illness, the mother has the means to provide care but fails to fulfill her custodial duties, or for other reasons..."

"If the other party falls under any one of these, the court will review the custody arrangement on a case-by-case basis!"

"And within that..."

Xu De paused, then looked up at Wang Yu, a smile spreading across his face.

"A classic example of ’having the means to provide care but failing to fulfill her custodial duties’ is ’infidelity’!"

"Of course, an ordinary affair might not be enough, but..."