A court has ruled that a 48-year-old woman in Spain will be paid Є204,000 (about $215,000), the equivalent of N99million (using official exchange rate) from her ex-husband as the compensation for doing unpaid housework during their marriage.
Ivana Moral will receive a monthly pension of €500 (about $528) from her ex-husband, whom she asked for a divorce in 2020, according to iNews and Spanish language newspaper El Pais.
The outlets reported the total amount for the pension was decided by a Málaga judge who based it on the minimum monthly professional wage for the 25 years the pair were married.
Her ex-husband, who was not named in the court ruling, has been ordered to pay €400 (£356) and €600 (£533) to their two daughters, who are now 20 and 14, according to iNews. He is expected to appeal.
Moral said she “exclusively” handled the couple’s housework during their marriage, reported EuroNews
She also argued that during that time, she could not pursue her own career because of “her exclusive dedication to the home and family,” while her ex-husband “accumulated and exponentially increased his assets,” the outlet reports.
Conversely, Moral’s ex built a flourishing gym business that meant he could afford lavish purchases, iNews reported.
Moral claimed her ex also refused to pay for one of their daughter’s studies when she turned 16, according to the outlet.
“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,” Moral told the outlet.
“I was supporting my husband in his work and in the family as a mother and a father,” she added. “I was never allowed access to his financial affairs; everything was in his name.”
“This ruling represents the labour of all the women in the shadows and who, without a doubt, constitute a fundamental support in personal, marital, and familiar terms during years and years so that the ex-husband could develop his professional career and a rise in wealth which at the moment of separation could not share,” Moral’s attorney, Marta Fuentes, told iNews.
“So he could get on in his career, she stayed at home to look after the children, and they never contacted anyone to help her,” she continued. “She was his shadow, working behind [him] so he could rise professionally and become someone.”
