“Ex-Wife Awarded $215k Divorce Settlement for 25 Years of Uncompensated Housework”

• A Spanish court ruled that a man owed his ex-wife $215,664 for 25 years of unpaid housework.
• The payment was calculated using Spain’s minimum monthly professional wage.
• Her lawyer said it’s a victory for all women who have labored in the “shadows” of their husbands.

Ivana Moral, 48, did all of the household chores during her marriage to her now ex-husband. And a Spanish court says she ought to be paid for it.

In a decision that became public on Tuesday, a court in Velez-Malaga, southern Spain, ruled that Moral should be paid Є204,624.86 ($215,664) by her ex-husband in compensation for unpaid housework during their 25-year marriage.

The groundbreaking ruling means that she will receive the equivalent of Spain’s minimum monthly professional wage for the years they were married.

Moral, who divorced her husband in 2020, will also receive a monthly pension of €500 ($527).

The ruling said that Moral performed all of the house chores “exclusively” during their marriage, which included contributing “punctually” to the family gym business, Euronews reported.

It also said that Moral was owed the compensation because she was “deprived of any possible career due to her exclusive dedication to the home and family,” adding that the unnamed man exponentially increased his assets throughout their marriage, per Euronews.

According to the i, the man was able to buy a Porsche, a Range Rover, BMW motorbikes, and a 173-acre olive oil farm with the earnings from the family gym business. The Spanish newspaper NIUS reported that the olive farm brings in up to $4,000 ($4,215) for the ex-husband each month.

Meanwhile, Moral couldn’t even afford to buy her daughters a set of workbooks, she told NIUS.

When the couple first entered into the marriage in 1995, Moral had signed a separation of goods agreement, per the i. This agreement meant that her husband would split their home and common possessions with her, but hold onto his wealth.

Initially, Moral was awarded half their house but no money in the divorce, the i reported.

“The reason I decided to speak to the media is I wanted women to know that we can claim for housework when there is a separation of goods agreement,” Moral said in an interview with the publication.

Moral’s lawyer, Marta Fuentes, told the newspaper that the ruling was a victory for women who have labored in the “shadows” of their husbands.

Fuentes added: “So he could get on in his career, she [Moral] stayed at home to look after the children… She was his shadow, working behind [him] so he could rise professionally and become someone.”