report
Lv Xiaoyuan and Xiaodong
There is still an almanac with pictures of children on the shoe cabinet.
The child is seriously ill, and the mother raises donations through the online serious illness fundraising platform. Can the divorced ex-husband not bear the medical expenses? In order to get an answer, a single mother in Dalian took her ex-husband to court twice. Recently, the case was concluded by the People’s Court of Ganjingzi District, Dalian.
Ten months after the child’s death, the photos are still on the shoe cabinet.
Although the child has been gone for more than half a year, there is still a calendar with photos of the child on the shoe cabinet at the door of Lv Xiaoyuan’s home. In addition, a crystal table made when a child was born has always been placed here.
In 2015, Lv Xiaoyuan divorced her husband. According to the agreement between the two parties at that time, his two-and-a-half-year-old son Xiaodong (a pseudonym) was raised by him, and the man paid 500 yuan’s living expenses every month. Originally, I was able to get by by working as an English teacher in a preschool training institution. However, in September 2017, Xiaodong began to get sick and was diagnosed as a malignant brain tumor in November of the same year. Xiaodong underwent craniotomy. After that, Lv Xiaoyuan took her children to many hospitals for treatment, and went to Beijing for more than 30 times of radiotherapy.
Because she was tired of coping with her child’s illness, she often took her child to the hospital for treatment. Lv Xiaoyuan really had no energy to continue working, so she had to terminate her labor contract with her unit, and her life suddenly got into trouble. She told Zi Niu News reporter that her parents also suffered from diseases, especially her father had kidney cancer and had to take medicine for a long time. And the house where she lives with her parents is also rented.
Because there was really no money to treat her children, Lv Xiaoyuan thought twice and initiated help on the easy platform, and at the same time got help from Dalian Youth Development Foundation. Regrettably, the disease finally took Xiaodong’s life.
At noon on February 21 this year, Xiaodong, who struggled with the disease for one year and 155 days, still left.
Now working three part-time jobs, she hopes to pay off all the loans.
After the death of her child, Lv Xiaoyuan tried her best to restore her mental state, but it was no easy task as a mother. Because she works as a teacher in an early childhood training institution, whenever she sees lively and lovely children, she will cry at the door of an early education institution, dry her tears and then go in to face those children. Once, a very young child called her "Mom" sweetly, and Lv Xiaoyuan suddenly burst into tears.
At present, Lv Xiaoyuan works part-time in three preschool training institutions. She told reporters that she is still burdened with debts of about 100,000 yuan, including borrowed money and money lent to her by relatives and friends. In addition, my father has cancer, my mother is in poor health, and life is very difficult. Although some friends understood her situation and took the initiative to tell her that she didn’t have to pay back the money she borrowed, she decided to pay off all the money even if it was slower. The children’s grandparents will also donate the money exchanged for waste products to a public welfare organization in the name of Xiaodong every month to pin their thoughts on their children.
The first lawsuit
End the lawsuit because of the death of a child.
The reporter learned that after the child became ill, Lv Xiaoyuan contacted her ex-husband, hoping that the other party, as the father of the child, could bear part of the treatment expenses, but did not get the result.
In the face of the child’s illness, can the father of the child avoid his due obligations after divorce?
In March last year, Lv Xiaoyuan took her son as the plaintiff and filed a lawsuit in the People’s Court of Ganjingzi District, Dalian, requesting her ex-husband to bear the plaintiff’s medical expenses, living expenses, transportation expenses and accommodation expenses during her treatment in Beijing totaling more than 250,000 yuan. At the same time, the maintenance fee will be adjusted from 500 yuan to 2,000 yuan per month. During the trial, the father of the child argued that the child’s medical expenses had been supported by social donations and should not be claimed by himself.
The Ganjingzi court held that the medical expenses incurred by the child due to illness had actually been borne by donations, and it was unfounded to claim this part of the expenses to the defendant again. In the course of litigation, Lv Xiaoyuan raised money everywhere, and unilaterally paid nearly 80,000 yuan for new medical expenses. As a father, the defendant should bear half of the medical expenses. The court of first instance ruled that the defendant paid nearly 40,000 yuan for the child’s medical expenses, and the court adjusted it to a monthly 1000 yuan on the issue of alimony.
Lv Xiaoyuan’s ex-husband refused to accept the first-instance judgment and appealed. However, Xiaodong died before the trial, and the Dalian Intermediate People’s Court ruled that the case was terminated according to law.
In the interview, Lv Xiaoyuan told Zi Niu journalist that although she has raised more than 400,000 yuan. But among them, about 100,000 yuan was raised for a special treatment. Unfortunately, Xiaodong had already left before the treatment started. Lv Xiaoyuan thinks that the child has passed away, so she should not move the special treatment expenses raised. She donated the money to another seriously ill child under the witness of an easy-to-raise staff. In this way, the treatment-related expenses paid by Lv Xiaoyuan for Xiaodong’s medical treatment are actually much higher than the donations raised from easy financing and other places.
Re-litigation
The court found that there was a difference between actual expenditure and fundraising.
In May this year, Lv Xiaoyuan once again entered the People’s Court of Ganjingzi District, Dalian.
Lv Xiaoyuan asked the court to order her ex-husband to pay Xiaodong medical-related expenses of 130,000 yuan and some funeral expenses of 20,000 yuan after her death. She said that she had repeatedly claimed to the other party that the alimony should bear part of the medical expenses, but the defendant refused to pay, and the expenses were always borne by herself. She believes that until Xiaodong’s death, the other party did not assume the responsibility that a father should bear. As Xiaodong’s father, he should share the above expenses with himself.
During the trial, Xiaodong’s father argued that he disagreed with Lu Xiaoyuan’s claim. He believes that the other party failed to provide all the formal bills that Xiaodong spent on treatment. In addition, he believes that Xiaodong’s medical expenses are all borne by social donations, and at the end of 2018, he has increased the amount of his own support to 1000 yuan every month, thus fulfilling his obligations as a father.
Zi Niu news reporter saw in the judgment of this case that according to the evidence and cross-examination submitted by the parties, the court found that Xiaodong spent a total of more than 340,000 yuan in the process of medical treatment, and Lv Xiaoyuan spent a total of more than 35,000 yuan on funeral expenses for Xiaodong. In order to treat children, Lu Xiaoyuan actually raised more than 400,000 yuan through the easy platform and actually used more than 290,000 yuan.
Lv Xiaoyuan told reporters that in fact, in addition to the treatment expenses recognized by the court, there are many treatment-related expenses that are difficult to issue bills, such as drugs purchased from abroad and necessary expenses when taking children to other places to see a doctor. These add up to not a small number. To this end, when she sued, she claimed to the court that the total expenses of medical expenses, accommodation, transportation and living expenses during the treatment period were more than 500,000 yuan. She believes that these expenses, except the part raised from the internet, should also be shared by the father of the child. At the same time, she told reporters that she understood that the court is a place where evidence is emphasized, and she respected the court’s determination.
report
Social donation does not exempt the father from his legal obligations.
Recently, the People’s Court of Ganjingzi District of Dalian made a judgment on this case.
The judgment clearly stated, "The defendant’s obligation to Xiaodong is a legal obligation. The money raised by the plaintiff in the society is donated by others for free, and the donor does not have legal obligations. Social donation does not exempt the defendant from legal obligations."
In view of the difference of nearly 50 thousand yuan between the donated money and Xiaodong’s medical expenses, the court found that Xiaodong’s father should bear half of it, that is, more than 24 thousand yuan. The judgment also specifically stated that after Xiaodong’s death, unused donations should not be owned by the original and the defendant as their property, but should be returned to the society for donation or returned to the society in other ways. The actual expenses incurred in Xiaodong’s treatment belong to the joint debt of the original defendant and the defendant, and shall be jointly borne by those with legal obligations.
In view of the funeral expenses of 35,000 yuan after Xiaodong’s death, Xiaodong’s father argued that it was too high. The court held that there was no uniform standard for funeral expenses, no matter how much it was spent for married children, it was a manifestation of nostalgia and grief for the deceased. The defendant argued that the expenses were too high, and the court refused to accept it. The defendant should bear more than 17,000 yuan.
To sum up, Dalian Ganjingzi Court ruled in the first instance that Xiaodong’s father paid Lv Xiaoyuan more than 42,000 yuan. At present, the judgment has come into effect.
Lv Xiaoyuan told Zi Niu journalist that after the court decision came into effect, the other party still failed to pay the fee. At present, she has applied to the court for enforcement.
Reporter’s follow-up: the biological father should bear the corresponding responsibility
For these two lawsuits, Zhang Xinyi, a teacher at the School of Marxism of Nanjing University of Science and Technology, said that, first of all, he praised the judgment made by the court according to law. As the biological father, the defendant should bear corresponding responsibilities. Emotion, reason and law are all justified and deserved. Speaking of the online fundraising platform for serious diseases, Lv Xiaoyuan believes that although there are some controversies about the problems exposed at present, this emerging thing has indeed helped more people who are in urgent need of help, and it should be improved by strengthening management. Zhang Xinyi believes that parents should do their duty. Although there are some serious illness fund-raising platforms, which increase the channels for people to seek help when they are seriously ill, as relatives, especially parents and spouses who have legal obligations, they should still try their best to help their relatives first, instead of blindly pushing the responsibility to the society, and should leave more opportunities to those whose families are really in difficulty. (Reporter Wan Chengyuan)
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