In a high-profile divorce suit, the Taipei District Court yesterday ruled invalid a previous judgement by a Hong Kong court, which required the son of a leading Taiwan business magnate pay NT$100 million in alimony to his divorced wife.
In 1998 the wife of Lin Hung-ming (林鴻銘), the second son of the chairman of Chinese National Federation of Industries (全國工業總會) and president of the Sino-Japan Conglomerate (中日集團) Lin Kun-chung (林坤鐘), filed for divorce in Hong Kong, accusing her husband of adultery.
The court ruled that Lin Hung-ming pay his wife HK$23.8 million, approximately NT$100 million, in alimony.
But yesterday the Taipei District Court ruled that the Hong Kong court did not have any jurisdiction over the case.
The district court granted Lin's request for a divorce from his ex-wife, Lin Hsiu-fen (林秀芬), and gave the mother custody of their children. However, no mention was made of alimony in the court ruling.
After his wife filed a suit in Hong Kong in 1998, Lin Hung-min took his case to a court in Taipei in 1999.
When he filed the suit for divorce, Lin Hung-ming said that his wife had spent money extravagantly and said he was falsely accused of committing adultery.
While the Taipei District Court did not adopt Lin Hung-ming's justifications for divorce, he said that the couple have lived separately for three years and that it was already a fact that the marriage was difficult to maintain.
The court said that both parties owned homes in Taipei despite the fact that Lin Hung-ming had properties and business in Hong Kong. Besides, the judgement said, the fact and cause of the suit occurred in Taipei.
According to Article 568 of Taiwan's Code of Civil Procedure, an action for divorce is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the court at the location where the husband and the wife have residence.
The court therefore ruled that the Hong Kong court has no jurisdiction over the case.
A senior judge of the district court said that since the complainant in Lin Hung-ming's legal suit only argued on the issue whether the Hong Kong court had jurisdiction and did not take issue with alimony payments, the court did not make any ruling whether maintenance must be paid.
He said a claim for maintenance could be filed as a separate action.
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