The client had four children with her husband and raised them. However, the family relationship register also listed another child whom the client had never given birth to. It turned out that, in the past, the husband had secretly registered the son of a subordinate employee who had died in a workplace accident under his own family register. After the husband’s death, that person even filed a lawsuit seeking a return of the statutory reserved share of inheritance. Attorney Shin Yookyung, a partner at Law Firm Jonjae, represented the client and filed a lawsuit to confirm the nonexistence of a biological parent-child relationship, ultimately obtaining a full victory.

The client continued working alone to support the family. The spouse moved to another region for the children’s education, where the affair was exposed. After much consideration, they reached an amicable divorce, but the spouse later filed a claim for property division after the divorce. In this case, Law Firm Jonjae protected the client’s assets by reducing the spouse’s share of the couple’s net assets—about KRW 1.35 billion—from 40% at first instance to 35% on appeal.

If you and your spouse have agreed to divorce, it may seem like half the battle is over. But unless issues such as settlement of past child support, division of public pension benefits, and barring any future additional claims are legally finalized, disputes can resurface even after the divorce. In this case, a client who decided to divorce after a long separation came to Law Firm Jonjae, and we finalized all of the settlement terms in a court mediation record, completing the divorce process at the first mediation hearing.