According to Taiwan Lianhe Bao report, a Mr Zhang from Kaohsiung City said that his wife only cohabited with him for seven days after their marriage and only prepared a pot of mung bean porridge or plain rice for him. The husband claimed that the wife maliciously abandoned him and requested a divorce. However, the judge believed that the law does not stipulate that the wife must prepare three meals a day for her husband, and that Mr Zhang can take care of his own meals, which has nothing to do with malicious abandonment, thus rejecting the request.
Mr Zhang pointed out that the couple got married in January 2007 and lived with the wife's adoptive parents after marriage. Due to the opposition of the adoptive parents to their marriage, they only cohabited for one week before he moved out to live on his own, while the wife stayed behind under the pretext of taking care of the adoptive parents.
Mr Zhang stated that his wife only prepared a pot of mung bean porridge or plain rice, instant noodles for him as his three meals a day. The adoptive parents of his wife were previously taken care of by foreign workers, so there was no need for her to personally attend to them. Her behavior constituted malicious abandonment.
During the trial, the wife explained that her adoptive father was hospitalized for treatment in January last year due to illness, and her adoptive mother was hospitalized in March last year due to heart failure. With poor economic ability, she could no longer afford to hire a caregiver to take care of her adoptive parents. She took on the responsibility of personally caring for them, shuttling between the hospital and the home of her adoptive parents. However, she did not neglect her duties as a wife, preparing food for her husband every day before going out to take care of her parents, and keeping in touch with her husband at all times, revealing her difficult circumstances.
The judge said that the wife had fulfilled her obligation to cohabit, but preparing three meals a day for her husband is not a legal obligation. Moreover, Mr Zhang is capable of taking care of his daily life and should be able to prepare his own meals. Whether the wife cooks for him or not has nothing to do with malicious abandonment.