Celebrity couple`s divorce

A divorce usually entails financial disputes over alimony, division of assets and child support. Alimony is the money paid by the husband or wife who caused the divorce to his or her spouse to compensate for psychological damage. The couple also splits assets and property that they jointly created over their marriage. Even the spouse at fault can demand an asset split. If the couple has children, they must decide who will have custody, and the spouse who does not must pay child support. Of the three, the asset split usually involves the largest amount of money.

A spouse can own his or her property but it is not necessary to register co-ownership of a house purchased over the marriage period. Unless a house is inherited, it is considered a couple’s common asset even if its ownership is registered under one spouse’s name. Even if a husband and his wife have separate bank accounts, the assets accumulated in their marriage are shared. But one has an exclusive claim over the assets he or she had before marriage. The common assets are split in accordance with contributions based on the length of the marriage, age and economic activities. In a divorce between an employed husband and a full-time housewife, a wife married for 10 years makes bigger contributions than one married for three years. Household labor is usually recognized for an average of 30 percent of the assets accumulated in a marriage.

Actress Lee Ji-ah is suing her husband Seo Tai-ji, a Korean pop music pioneer, for 500 million won (462,748 U.S. dollars) in alimony and 5 billion won (4.6 million dollars) in division of assets. The suit had no claims over child custody. Customarily, divorce-related financial claims are made simultaneously with a divorce suit. It seems that the celebrity couple has divorced but is going through the lawsuit now because they failed to reach an agreement on splitting their assets. An alimony claim must be made within two years after a divorce and a demand for asset split within three years. Lee claims that they divorced in 2009, while Seo argues that her claim expired as they divorced in 2006.

Divorcing celebrities tend to reach an agreement or accept an arbitrated settlement to avoid going to court and getting public attention. In arbitration, they usually reach a package deal without separating alimony and asset splits, and the results are not made public. Last year, singer Park Jin-young agreed to give his ex-wife 3 billion won (2.78 million dollars) in addition to a monthly payment of 20 million won (18,510 dollars). Court officials said Park gave everything his former wife demanded. When former Dong-Ah Group Chairman Choi Won-suk divorced his wife, former KBS announcer Jang Eun-young, he is said to have paid her a large settlement. When the love is gone, is the only thing that remains a money dispute?

Editorial Writer Song Pyeong-in (pisong@donga.com)