Upper-Intermediate - Paying Child Support (D0520)

哎，最近日子不好过啊！
āi ，zuìjìn rìzi bù hǎo guò a ！
(Sigh) Lately things have not been going well.

是离婚的事吗？
shì líhūn de shì ma ？
Is it your divorce?

对啊，真伤脑筋。只怪我当时被爱情冲昏了头，什么都没考虑清楚就结婚了。你谈恋爱的时候可一定要理智！
duì a ，zhēn shāng nǎojīn 。zhǐ guài wǒ dāngshí bèi àiqíng chōnghūn le tóu ，shénme dōu méi kǎolǜ qīngchu jiù jiéhūn le 。nǐ tán liànài de shíhou kě yīdìng yào lǐzhì ！
That's right. I'm really at a loss. I only have myself to blame for being muddleheaded by love. I hadn't thought anything over clearly and just went and got married. When you are dating you definitely need to be rational.

放心吧。对了，你们是协议离婚还是法院判的？
fàngxīn ba 。duì le ，nǐmen shì xiéyì líhūn háishi fǎyuàn pàn de ？
Don't worry. Oh, did you get a consensual divorce, or was it a contested divorce?

法院判的。婚后财产一人一半。房子卖掉的钱也是平分。其实这房子大部分的钱都是我出的。不过，算了，我是没精力再争了。
fǎyuàn pàn de 。hūnhòu cáichǎn yī rén yībàn 。fángzi màidiào de qián yě shì píngfēn 。qíshí zhè fángzi dàbùfen de qián dōu shì wǒ chū de 。bùguò ，suàn le ，wǒ shì méi jīnglì zài zhēng le 。
It was contested. The property acquired during the marriage was split half and half. The proceeds from the sale of our house were also divided equally. Actually, I put in the majority of the money for the house. But, never mind. I don't have the energy to fight anymore.

那你们的孩子呢？跟谁？
nà nǐmen de háizi ne ？gēn shéi ？
So, what about your child? Who got him?

这才是最头疼的问题。他还小，我们没离婚的时候老吵架，他已经受了很大影响。更别提离婚了。我们两个又都想要孩子，毕竟是自己的心头肉啊！谁也不愿意妥协，所以离婚官司才拖了这么久。
zhè cái shì zuì tóuténg de wèntí 。tā hái xiǎo ，wǒmen méi líhūn de shíhou lǎo chǎojià ，tā yǐjīng shòu le hěn dà yǐngxiǎng 。gèng biétí líhūn le 。wǒmen liǎng ge yòu dōu xiǎng yào háizi ，bìjìng shì zìjǐ de xīntóuròu a ！shéi yě bù yuànyì tuǒxié ，suǒyǐ líhūn guānsi cái tuō le zhème jiǔ 。
This was the biggest headache. He is still little. Before the divorce we were always arguing; he has already been affected a lot. Not to mention the divorce. Both of us of course want our child--after all he's our own flesh and blood. Neither of us were willing to compromise, so as a consequence our divorce dragged out a long time.

那法院最后怎么判呢？
nà fǎyuàn zuìhòu zěnme pàn ne ？
So, how did the court rule in the end?

抚养权归她。我每个月付抚养费，直到孩子成人。数额根据他的成长、生活情况来调整。其实我这么辛苦赚钱，不就是想让孩子过得舒服点、接受更好的教育吗？
fǔyǎng quán guī tā 。wǒ měi ge yuè fù fǔyǎng fèi ，zhídào háizi chéngrén 。shùé gēnjù tā de chéngzhǎng 、shēnghuó qíngkuàng lái tiáozhěng 。qíshí wǒ zhème xīnkǔ zhuànqián ，bù jiùshì xiǎng ràng háizi guò de shūfu diǎn 、jiēshòu gèng hǎo de jiàoyù ma ？
Custody was given to her. Every month I pay child support, and will do so until our child is an adult. The amount is set according to his age, and adjusted according to his life circumstances. Actually, I am working so hard to earn money precisely because I want to give my child a comfortable life, and get a better education.

那探视权呢？
nà tànshì quán ne ？
What about visitation rights?

这是我们自己商定的。我想孩子或者孩子想我的时候都可以见面。
zhè shì wǒmen zìjǐ shāngdìng de 。wǒ xiǎng háizi huòzhě háizi xiǎng wǒ de shíhou dōu kěyǐ jiànmiàn 。
We set this ourselves. When I miss our child, or he misses me, we can see each other.

那就好。你这么疼他，如果一周只能见一次，一定想死了。哎，中国法院是不是倾向把孩子判给妈妈？
nà jiù hǎo 。nǐ zhème téng tā ，rúguǒ yī zhōu zhǐnéng jiàn yī cì ，yīdìng xiǎng sǐ le 。āi ，Zhōngguó fǎyuàn shì bu shì qīngxiàng bǎ háizi pàn gěi māma ？
Well, that's good. You love him so much--if you could only see him once a week, you would miss him so much. Oh, are Chinese courts more inclined to award the child to the mother?

这还是要看具体情况的。比如我，虽然情感和经济上都符合要求，但是工作太忙了，没办法照顾他。所以法院最后判给他妈妈了。
zhè hái shì yào kàn jùtǐ qíngkuàng de 。bǐrú wǒ ，suīrán qínggǎn hé jīngjì shang dōu fúhé yāoqiú ，dànshì gōngzuò tài máng le ，méi bànfǎ zhàogu tā 。suǒyǐ fǎyuàn zuìhòu pàn gěi tā māma le 。
That depends on the specific circumstances. Take me for example--although I conform to the emotional and financial requirements, because I am busy at work, I have no way to look after him. So in the end, the court awarded custody to his mother.

这样也好。只要你儿子知道你疼他就行。
zhèyàng yě hǎo 。zhǐyào nǐ érzi zhīdào nǐ téng tā jiù xíng 。
That's good too. As long as your son knows you love him it's all right.

但愿吧。
dànyuàn ba 。
I hope so.

Vocabulary

伤脑筋	shāng nǎojīn	bothersome
理智	lǐzhì	rational
协议	xiéyì	agreement
判	pàn	to sentence
心头肉	xīntóuròu	one's own flesh and blood
妥协	tuǒxié	to compromise
调整	tiáozhěng	to adjust
探视	tànshì	to visit
商定	shāngdìng	to settle after discussion
倾向	qīngxiàng	tendency; trend
官司	guānsi	lawsuit
抚养权	fǔyǎng quán	custody
抚养费	fǔyǎng fèi	child support payment
探视权	tànshì quán	visitation rights
监护权	jiānhù quán	right of custody or guardianship
赡养费	shànyǎng fèi	alimony
打官司	dǎ guānsi	to sue
胜诉	shèngsù	to win a lawsuit
败诉	bàisù	to lose a lawsuit