According to various sources, issues regarding physical intimacy represent a leading cause of divorce. However, these intimate issues can manifest in many ways – and perhaps the most complex manifestations involve money. Many couples divorce because of alleged cheating with sex workers. These allegations can have numerous effects during alimony and property division calculations, especially if the alleged cheater spent significant sums on these activities. Other cases involve illicit mistresses who were showered with luxurious gifts – and these expenditures represent the waste of marital assets. But what happens when a wife demands payment from her husband simply for the privilege of an intimate encounter? This situation recently unfolded in Taiwan – and it led to divorce.
Wife Demands Husband Pay Her for Sex
In August 2024, numerous media sources reported a startling divorce case in Taiwan. The most notable detail of this divorce was an allegation that the wife demanded that her husband pay her for sexual encounters. According to the husband, she justified these demands by highlighting his overweight body and general “incompetence.”
These allegations came to light in the divorce trial, and the family court in Taiwan seems to have granted the divorce as a result. According to a recent Medium article, Taiwan is one of the most difficult places on the planet to get divorced. While US states all have some degree of “no-fault” systems, there are only a handful of State-approved reasons for divorce in Taiwan. Among these are adultery, insanity, cruelty, abuse, desertion, murder plots, sickness, mental illness, and imprisonment. There is no way to divorce someone for “irreconcilable differences” in Taiwan.
This explains why the husband was willing to share such embarrassing details about his marriage in a public court. If he had not made these allegations, he would have been stuck in a marriage with a woman who clearly didn’t think he was attractive or competent. The Taiwanese court reviewed these allegations and approved his marriage on the grounds of abuse. The wife opposed the divorce – presumably for financial reasons.
According to one report, this is a relatively common occurrence among married couples in Taiwan. In 2014, a Taiwanese woman also faced divorce after charging her husband for each sexual encounter. She also reportedly set fees for basic conversations and meals. The children in this family allegedly took their mother’s lead and began charging the father for the privilege of speaking with them.
The Connection Between Divorce, Sex, and Money in the United States
Because US states follow no-fault systems, there is no real need to prove similar types of abuse. However, some states make this process easier than others. That being said, divorce commonly intersects with both sex and money in the United States. One example is a prenuptial agreement that sets financial penalties for adulterous affairs. Although some might argue that these contracts are unconscionable, family courts have upheld them in the past.
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