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A court in Shanghai has recently concluded a family dispute in which a daughter sued her parents after they refused to provide her with money to study abroad.In the lawsuit, the daughter asked the court to order her parents to sell a house jointly owned by the trio, and then divide the funds equally, so she can use it to support herself while studying abroad or the parents give her her share of the money due to the ownership of the house.According to court documents, the 25-year-old Xiaotian is the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tian. Her grandfather owned a house which he left under the joint ownership of the three when he died. The grandmother is currently living alone in the house.Since 2021, Xiaotian and her parents had disagreements over her choice of study and career, thus she decided to move out of their house to live alone in a rented apartment.Over the course of the next two years, Xiaotian constantly asked her parents to either sell the late grandfather's house and give her a share of the money or use their own money to buy her share of the house, but they refused.In July 2021, the parents told Xiaotian and signed an agreement with her that they could only sell the house and give her the share when her grandmother passes 100 years old.However, Xiaotian insisted that studying abroad was and still is her dream, and she had been hoping to do so for many years. So she once again proposed to her parents that they sell the house and divide the funds to each person or the parents give her share of the money, but they refused again.This year, she filed a lawsuit against her parents in Baoshan Court in Shanghai, claiming that she urgently needed funds to support her planned studies and life abroad.During the trial, Mr. and Mrs. Tian argued that although the house belongs to three of them, they are still a family and there is no need to argue about ownership or monetary share. They also argued that there is no "urgency" in their or her daily life which would justify selling the house.Moreover, they claimed that they have been paying for Xiaotian's loans and various expenses over the past two years, which amounted to over 500,000 yuan. They also helped to find a school abroad for Xiaotian, but she refused to attend the school because she claimed that it ranks lower.The judge said that there is currently no legal basis regarding the division of property between children and parents in the Civil Code. Considering that the joint owners of the house are family members, it can not be judged on standard jointly owned property laws.Furthermore, Xiaotian's claim for studying and living abroad does not meet the "urgently" needed funds she described.Finally, the grandmother, who is morally considered the living owner of the property, still resides in the house, so it would not be appropriate to sell the house.As the parents have said they do not have the ability to pay her for her share of the house, the court can not force them to do so as they are not obliged to pay it.In short, the Baoshan Court rejected all the litigation claims of the plaintiff. Xiaotian appealed against the decision and the court of the second instance upheld the original verdict.
*The opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author.* Follow Us
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