Dragged to court just to fight for child custody

(Baonghean.vn) - Many couples have had to go to court to get a divorce due to broken marriages. For many couples, the most stressful thing is the issue of child custody.

1. It has been a long time since the court had a divorce case, the husband and wife agreed to go their separate ways, but it took 5 days, 3 trials to announce the verdict. Simply, everyone wanted to fight for custody of the child, even though the child was only 32 months old and according to the law, the custody of the child naturally belonged to the mother.

Overview of the trial over child custody between a police lieutenant and a lawyer. Photo: Ha Thu

The plaintiff in the case is the wife, Duong Thi Thu H. (29 years old), a Lieutenant working in the police force, and the defendant is Nguyen Le Anh T. (38 years old), a member of the Bar Association, director of a company in Vinh City (Nghe An).

In 2013, out of love, the two got married and in September 2014, their first son Nguyen Hong P. was born. The family, which was supposed to be sweeter, fell into turmoil, starting with petty conflicts in life, from the fact that Mr. T. loved animals and wanted to raise dogs in the house but Ms. H. could not take care of them, to bigger issues of money and food.

The conflict accumulated for a long time, until November 2016, the couple separated. From then on, all the love accumulated during the days of love, turned into hatred when both husband and wife tried to find every way to fight for custody of the child.

After many unsuccessful attempts at reconciliation and emotional healing, the Vinh City People's Court was forced to bring the case to trial. On April 27-28 and May 26-27, the divorce case for child custody dragged on for the first time without a verdict.

He and she, who used to be together, now do not even look at each other. In front of the court, they try to give every reason to justify that they have the best conditions to take care of and raise their children. Ms. H., thinks that she is a Lieutenant, works in the police force, and her son is not yet 36 months old, so not only is she qualified, but she is also entitled to custody of her child.

“During our time together, Mr. T. repeatedly violated and insulted my honor and dignity. During our separation, he tried every way to separate us from our sacred mother-child relationship. Furthermore, recently many people have filed complaints with the police department accusing Mr. T. of fraud and embezzlement of billions of dong. Is such a father qualified to raise his children?”, Ms. H. sobbed in the middle of the court.

Refuting his wife's opinion, Mr. T. also said that Ms. H. was an unworthy mother. On the day of separation, instead of choosing her child, she chose a car to leave. After that, she repeatedly brought people to the school and her home to show off and demand her child back, making her husband's family very upset.

To bring his child under 36 months old back to him, Mr. T. did everything, from proving his financial income with a monthly salary contract of 15 million VND, to sending his child to study at an international kindergarten considered the best in Vinh City. Along with that was a health care service contract for the child, signed separately with a general practitioner to take care of P.'s health.

However, rejecting these efforts, the two lawyers defending Ms. H.’s rights exposed Mr. T.’s hypocritical tricks by clarifying that Mr. T.’s sending his child to enroll in the International Kindergarten was just an excuse, in reality the child only studied there for exactly one month and then asked for leave to travel, and then did not return to study another day. As for the so-called “Health Care Service Contract” for P., Mr. T. and the doctor signed on November 15, 2016, before she was granted a medical practice certificate by the authorities, but with the expertise of a psychiatrist!

After a long deliberation, the presiding judge ordered the child to be taken care of and raised by the mother, according to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 81 of the Law on Marriage and Family. Mr. T. quietly left the court, leaving behind the applause and cheers, the congratulatory hugs of Ms. H.'s friends and colleagues, happy for the mother and child who were reunited after many days of separation.

2.Also at this time, the People's Court of Nghe An province brought the child custody dispute to the second instance trial, following the appeal of Mr. Nguyen Van B. (40 years old), residing in Nghia Dan district. Unlike the trial of Mr. T. and Ms. H. at the People's Court of Vinh city before, the trial of Mr. B. and his wife, Ms. Q. (35 years old), for child custody was deserted, with only the couple and Mr. B.'s sister sitting in attendance.

Mr. B. and Ms. Q. at the appeal hearing of Nghe An Provincial People's Court. Photo: Ha Thu

Before coming together, Mr. B. had a broken marriage and had two daughters. Sympathizing with the situation of a single father raising children, Ms. Q. voluntarily came to live with the father and three children. But then this happy boat trip soon ended with Mr. B. after they had children together.

Unable to hold on when the love was gone, the couple went to court to free themselves. Considering that the child was too young, the People's Court of Nghia Dan district ruled that custody rights should be given to Ms. Q. Believing that his ex-wife was not qualified and financially able to raise the child, Mr. B. filed an appeal, determined to regain custody of the child.

There were no lawyers in the court, only the couple sadly "accused" each other of their bad habits for the court to decide. Mr. B. said that after living together for less than 2 years, Ms. Q. had left home 3 times, even when the child was only 7 months old, she left him to take care of her, went away for many days without returning, despite the baby being thirsty for milk, crying for its mother.

Ms. Q., like many other women, when separated from her mother and child, struggled to resist, weakly clinging to her child in vain. She "accused" that her husband's family and Mr. B. himself mistreated and isolated her, leading to psychological depression, so she went to the South to "relieve her stress". But then, because I missed my child, I thought that no matter what, I could not lose my milk supply for my child, so I returned to fulfill my duty as a mother.

However, using that excuse, Mr. B's family resolutely separated us, causing the baby to lack the warmth of mother's milk. The law clearly stipulates that a mother has the right to raise a child under 36 months old. I currently sell goods at the market, have a stable job with a monthly income of 5 million VND, and have enough financial conditions to raise the child. Meanwhile, Mr. B is raising his ex-wife's 2 children, and their financial situation is very difficult. Therefore, I request the panel of judges to reject Mr. B's appeal and uphold the first instance judgment, allowing me to raise the baby," Ms. Q sobbed in court.

Refuting those things, Mr. B. said that, having once been unfinished, he really cherished the happiness he had, but Ms. Q. trampled on what he had cherished and respected. With a job as a rubber tapper, veterinarian, and medicine seller, earning about 10 million VND per month, I can take care of and raise my children in the best way possible," Mr. B. affirmed.

It is worth mentioning that at this trial, when the panel of judges tried to mend the couple's relationship, after many arguments, Mr. B. "asked for a minute to think" about mending the relationship, Ms. Q. asked the court to just pass the verdict, requesting to give her custody of the child and not wanting to rekindle the old relationship.

After a day of deliberation, the panel of judges decided to give custody of the child to Mr. B., even though the child was not yet 36 months old. The trial ended, and the two went their separate ways, but for them, the battle for custody of the child seemed to have not ended./.

Ha Thu