Court Orders Woman’s Ex-Husband To Pony Up $215K For 25 Yeas Of Unpaid Housework While They Were Married

A 48-year-old Spanish woman is getting a hefty payout from her ex-husband after a court ruled she deserved to be paid for all the housework she did during their marriage, El Pais reports. Ivana Moral will receive a monthly pension of €500 (about $526) from he ex, who she divorced in 2020. A judge in Málaga decided on that amount based on the monthly wage received by a professional cleaner.

In addition, the unnamed ex-husband was ordered to pay €400 ($426) and €600 ($626) to his 20-year-old and 14-year-old daughters, though the reasoning for this is unclear. Unsurprisingly, he plans to appeal all the rulings.

Ivana Moral said that she was the one who “exclusively” did all the housework throughout the more than two decades they were together, according to EuroNews. She didn’t even get to pursue her own career. She says that came down to “her exclusive dedication to the home and family.” Meanwhile, her husband “accumulated and exponentially increased his assets.” Well, that sucks.

It’s understood that her husband has a successful gym business. However, he never shared his wealth with his family. Moral said he even refused to pay for one of their daughter’s schooling once she turned 16.

Ivana Moral was sick of being taken for granted

“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 explained.

“I was supporting my husband in his work and in the family as a mother and a father. I was never allowed access to his financial affairs; everything was in his name.”

Moral’s lawyer, Marta Fuentes, told iNews she was pleased with the result. She believes it shows that women’s labor should not be free regardless of whether it happens within a marriage.

“This ruling represents the labor 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,” Fuentes said in a statement.

“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.”

Jennifer Still is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience. The managing editor of Bolde, she has bylines in Vanity Fair, Business Insider, The New York Times, Glamour, Bon Appetit, and many more. You can follow her on Twitter @jenniferlstill
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