Old mother sues daughter and son-in-law, demanding more than 600 million VND for childcare

A woman surnamed Doan in Quang An City, Sichuan, China filed a lawsuit in court, demanding that her daughter and her husband pay her 192,000 yuan (more than 600 million VND) for taking care of her grandchild for the past 5 years.

According toJiupai News, Mrs. Doan took care of her grandchild from February 2018 to July 2023. Her daughter and son-in-law both work in other cities and do not have time to take care of the child, so they leave it to her grandmother. Every month, the young couple sends their mother an allowance of 1,000 yuan (about 3.3 million VND) and a childcare fee of 2,000 yuan (about 6.6 million VND).

However, after 5 years of taking care of her grandchild, Ms. Doan felt that the salary was not worth it, so she asked her children to pay her an additional 192,000 yuan. Ms. Ho, her daughter, thought that her mother was asking too much, so without discussing it with her husband, she promised to give her 50,000 yuan (about 165 million VND). The two signed a contract about this.

However, Ms. Ho did not keep her promise even though her mother reminded her to pay many times. Therefore, Ms. Doan filed a lawsuit against her daughter and son-in-law.

The court found that Ms. Doan had no legal obligation to raise her grandson and deserved childcare fees from her daughter and her husband; but the amount she requested was too high. The court ruled that Ms. Ho and her husband must pay her mother 82,500 yuan (about 270 million VND).

Mr. Chu, Mrs. Doan's son-in-law, said that the reason his mother-in-law sued for childcare wages was because he was in a divorce dispute with Ms. Ho."The person my mother-in-law wants to sue is me", Mr. Chu said.

The lawsuit of Mrs. Doan’s family has caused a heated debate on social media. Many netizens support this mother’s demand for wages from her children:"The amount of money Mrs. Doan demanded was right", "She has no obligation to take care of her grandchild, she needs to be paid fairly"; "If what her son-in-law said is true, then she is very wise, her goal is to protect her daughter"...

Stories of family money disputes are a regular phenomenon online in China. In February 2023, a man who won a lottery in eastern China tried to hide 10 million yuan (about 33 billion VND) in winnings from his wife. He was ordered by a court to pay millions of yuan in compensation.