A BOOK ON U.S. APPLICABLE LAW
Deacon San Nguyen
ANY LOVE HAS ITS END
There are two sad stories about marrying girls in Vietnam.
First Story: Planning To Kill an Old Bird
A widower, Ron, 65 years old, lived alone in his big house. His wife died 6 years ago. His children, all grown up, invited him to live with them but he denied them all. Ron just wanted to live with happy memories still full in the house. Seeing him continuing to stay in his house with nobody to care for him, Ron’s children encouraged him to go back Vietnam and marry someone. Being unable to endure the pressure from his children, Ron had to follow their opinion but with some wise choice. Through many sad stories that his friends told him, Ron felt scared when imagining of a wedding with a girl much younger than him. He realized that once the young bird had green card, she would fly away and leave him for good.
Therefore, Ron decided to look for someone around 50 years old or older to be the step-mother of his eldest daughter who was 38 years old already.
In fact, people’s destinations were not created by their own decisions but by God. After many trips to Vietnam, Ron married a lady who was just 45 years old! At that age, his new wife was like a peach blossom just bloomed in the house. Ron was fascinated with his young and pretty wife. To satisfy her, Ron ate so much fat food that his blood pressure climbed up as high as the sugar level in his blood. Consequently, Ron needed more pills to lower his blood pressure and his sugar level.
After two years living with each other happily, Ron’s wife received a notice from INS notified her that she was qualified as a US Immigrant. The couple was glad like two birds in the paradise. Suddenly, Ron felt that something wrong with his health. His breath was too short. He could not move himself out of his bed. Ron asked his wife to call 911. An ambulance rushed to his home and brought him to hospital where an emergency doctor told him that he overdosed the medicine for his blood pressure. Should he be rescued few minutes late, he would already been dead.
Knowing this information, Ron shuddered. Thinking for few minutes, Ron found the reason why he was nearly dead and also found the murder: his wife! Every day, Ron asked his wife to prepare medication for him. His wife was the only person (and nobody else) who gave him the medicine! The young bird had set up plan to kill the old bird! However, with his generous heart, Ron still gave it the second thought. He did not want to report to police but waited and waited to see what his wife was doing later on.
A month passed by. One morning, the young bird disappeared from its net, leaving a good-bye letter. Then, two weeks later, Ron received a notice from his wife’s lawyer requesting him to sign. Also, there was a list of properties Ron had to share with her. Of course, Ron denied to sign any kind of paper. A trial at divorce court was processed. A decision was made unfair to Ron: he had to share 50% of all he had: house, car, cash, and bank check…to his late wife.
Instead of being sad, Ron was happy. He told me that he was luckier than many others. With such a terrible wife, he might be dead long time ago. Or, he might be homeless now. Ron was happy because he still had a roof to lie under and his children loved him. He said: “What the heck!” when he knew that the evil girl remarried with another young man right after the settlement of the divorce.
Second Story: An Early Good-Bye
Jack was a senior engineer who had high income. Following the trend of marrying a Vietnamese girl, Jack married a beautiful girl, 10 years younger than him in Saigon and took her to America. Because Jack was always afraid that someone would take her away from him, Jack locked her in his house, not allowing her to go work.
Unexpectedly, one day, while Jack was working at his office, his wife called 911 to rescue her. Through a translator, his wife claimed that her husband’s younger brother just raped her. She also showed police some bruises on her hand and claimed that her husband hit her. Conclusively, she was abused by both men. Hearing the complaint, policemen immediately woke the young brother up while he was sleeping in his house, handcuffed him and took him to jail. Nevertheless, no evidence showing that the Jack’s young brother raped his sister-in-law, the young man was released after 3 days in jail.
About the husband, neither evidence nor witness could show that Jack beat his wife, besides some bruises on her hand. Furthermore, Jack’s wife could not tell with what kind of tool that Jack used to beat her. Jack should be free from all accusations. Nevertheless, by some unknown reason, Jack received a suspended sentence for 3 years.
About the wife, because she claimed that she was abused by her husband, she could stay in the United States freely even though she just lived in the states not enough 2 years.
Legal issues on the stories:
- Ron did not do prenuptial agreement to list all of his properties before marriage. Thus, when his wife divorced him, he had to share all properties he had. If his wife had children underage, all his properties had to divide into many equal parts, instead of dividing into two equal parts.
- Marrying with a foreigner is a dangerous game. It is necessary for refugees to understand thoroughly US Immigration Law and US Family Law. As in the second story, while Jack denied that he never abused his wife, the woman had no evidence to show that Jack beat her besides some bruises on her hand and a doctor’s certification. The black marks on her hand could not point directly to Jack. Somebody else might cause it. Therefore, Jack was acquitted from the case and not in jail. Consequently, the woman might be deported after she divorced Jack because the time she lived in the States was less than two years.
For a conclusion, once again, prevention is better than treatment. Marrying a foreigner, especially Vietnamese girls, is a dangerous game that wise men have to avoid it.
