Husband ordered to pay for 25 years of unpaid housework
A man has been ordered to pay his ex-wife a hefty six-figure sum for 25 years of unpaid domestic labour.
Ivana Moral's ex-husband was ordered to pay her 204,624€ - or just over $327,000 AUD - in a record divorce settlement, based on the average minimum wage throughout their marriage.
The separated couple, who live in Spain and share two daughters, took the issue to court as the ruling stated that Ivana had spent almost all of her time looking after their family and working as a housewife during their marriage.
Ivana's husband must also pay her a pension of $797 (AUD) per month as well as $639 and $957 to his two daughters, who are now aged 20 and 14, for compensation for their childhoods.
The mother-of-two, who married her ex in 1995 before asking for a divorce in 2020, has said she is happy with the payout after years of hard work.
"Clearly this was a case of abuse to be completely excluded financially (by my ex-husband) with nothing left after my marriage ended, so me and my daughters were left with nothing after all these years of putting all my time, energy and love in the family," she told inews.
"I was supporting my husband in his work and in the family as a mother and a father. I was never allowed access to his financial affairs; everything was in his name."
Since getting married and starting a family, Ivana had dedicated herself "to essentially working in the home, which meant looking after the home and the family and all that involves," the court ruling said.
The couple's marriage was governed by a separation of property regime, which Ms Moral's husband had asked her to sign at the start of their marriage, which is similar to a pre-nuptial agreement.
It specified that whatever each party earned was theirs alone, with them only sharing possessions, which would have left Ms Moral with no access to any of the wealth acquired through years of partnership.
Ivana said her husband "made me take on the specific role" of doing domestic chores, to the extent that "I was in a place where I couldn't really do much else."
She also said the sentence had made her "very happy" because it was "very well deserved".
Image credits: Malaga Tribune