China woman spots husband with mistress while out on walk with sick mother. What happened next

The affair came to light earlier this year when the woman took her mother out for a walk and spotted her husband shopping with another woman, hand in hand. (Representational image: AFP)

Chinese social media has been rocked by a divorce case in which a man cheated on his wife yet still managed to claim half of his late mother-in-law’s wealth. The affair came to light after the wife who was out for a walk with her sick mother spotted the man walking hand in hand with his mistress.

The couple had been married for 20 years. And on discovering the affair, the wife accosted the man and during the public verbal spat, her elderly mother--who was trying to pacify the couple--got a heart attack and died, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. The woman’s father had died from an illness three years ago, leaving her mother in poor health, it added.

Three months later, after managing her mother’s funeral arrangements, the woman sought to divorce her cheating husband. He consented but insisted on an equal division of the two houses inherited from her mother.

“How can you claim a share of my parents’ houses?” SCMP quoted the wife as saying. She rejected her husband's demand and took him to court but ended up losing the case. According to the Chinese Civil Code, assets inherited by a spouse during the marriage are considered joint property. Therefore, the man has equal rights over the houses inherited by his wife from her parents, the local court ruled.

As per an official from the Zhejiang Testament Database, the scenario would have been different if the mother had left a will stating that her property be allocated only to her daughter.