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Nineteen articles of the Guiding Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on Marriage, Family and Inheritance Cases

Source | Guidance and Reference of the Supreme People's Court on Marriage, Family and Inheritance Cases (Second Edition), published by the People's Court Press

December 5, 2022

1. When determining the validity of the non property division clause in the divorce agreement, the people's court shall review the specific content of the non property division clause in the agreement according to law. If the non property division clause in the divorce agreement involves the disposition of the parties' own interests, and the parties clearly express their regret for the non property division clause in the lawsuit, the non property division clause shall generally be deemed not effective.

2. The party concerned uses his or her pre marital personal property in a way other than production or business operation. Even if the form of the property changes as a result, the ownership of the above property and its natural value-added attribution will not change.

3. In divorce cases involving domestic violence, the people's court should take the principle of maximizing the interests of children, which is conducive to the healthy growth of minor children, when deciding the ownership of children's direct custody. Domestic violence should be considered as an important factor when seeking opinions from minor children over the age of 10 on which of their parents they live together. (Note: It is now revised to be 8 years old)

4. When one party buys a house with personal property after marriage, the house is a "substitute for personal property" at the time of divorce, which should be recognized as personal property, and its natural appreciation also belongs to personal property; The house owned by one party shall be used for rent after marriage, and the rental income shall be business income, which shall be recognized as the joint property of husband and wife.

5. Before marriage, one party uses his or her personal property to purchase stocks, funds, etc. If a transaction is conducted during the marriage relationship, the income shall be recognized as the joint property of the husband and wife. If there is no buy and sell operation, the book income at the time of divorce is more likely to be recognized as natural appreciation. If the parties have not agreed in advance, the income from one party's purchase of lottery tickets with his or her personal property after marriage shall be recognized as the joint property of the husband and wife. The interest earned by a party after marriage from the use of his property for loan belongs to the legal fruits, which shall be recognized as the personal property of the party at the time of divorce.

6. The people's court will not support a party who claims that his or her spouse commits domestic violence and requests divorce damages based on the personal safety protection ruling issued by the people's court.

7. In a divorce case, the party who claims that the debt raised in his own name during the marriage relationship is the joint debt of the husband and wife, in addition to proving the true existence of the debt and its birth during the marriage relationship, has the responsibility to prove that the loan is used for the joint life of the husband and wife.

8. When applying Article 10 of the Interpretation of the Marriage Law (III), the amount of the amount involved in the couple's joint repayment of the loan and its corresponding appreciation is equal to the amount of the couple's joint repayment of the loan multiplied by the real estate appreciation rate. The so-called real estate appreciation rate is the real estate price divided by the real estate cost. The real estate cost includes the real estate price at the time of purchase+the interest part of joint repayment+other expenses (such as deed tax, stamp tax, business tax, evaluation fee, etc.).

9. In divorce proceedings, if one of the husband and wife holds a valid legal document on the debt owed by one of them during the marriage relationship and claims that the debt is a joint debt of the husband and wife, it is not appropriate to directly use the legal document as the basis for determining the joint debt of the husband and wife. The identification of the joint debt of the husband and wife should strengthen the burden of proof of the debtor, who should be able to prove that the debt is used for the joint life and business of the husband and wife or based on the agreement of both parties.

10. The provision that the couple agreed to give the house property to their children at the time of divorce by agreement is inseparable from the dissolution of the marriage relationship. In the case that both parties have reached an agreement on divorce, one party withdraws from the agreement and requests to revoke the gift provision. After examination, the people's court shall reject the claim if there is no fraud or coercion.

11. If the party concerned applies to the people's court for declaring the marriage invalid on the ground of bigamy, the people's court will not support the application if the party with valid marriage relationship has gone through divorce procedures or one of the spouses has died.

12. When hearing a dispute over cohabitation relationship, in principle, the wages, bonuses, gains from production and business operations, as well as the legitimate income derived from inheritance, gifts and other ways during the cohabitation of the parties shall belong to them; If both parties have jointly purchased property or income from joint operation during the period of cohabitation, they shall be fairly and reasonably divided according to their share of capital contribution and contribution.

13. The people's court shall accept if the party brings a lawsuit again on the dispute of visitation right, instead of applying the principle of "no matter what happens".

14. To judge whether the will made by the testator violates the provisions of Article 19 of the Succession Law of the People's Republic of China and belongs to the one that does not reserve the necessary share of the estate for the successor who lacks the ability to work and has no source of income, the substantive content of the will should be analyzed. As long as the testator makes special arrangements for the future life of the successor who lacks the ability to work and has no source of income when disposing of the estate, even if the form does not specify his inheritance, it should not be determined that the testator does not retain the share of the estate of the successor who lacks the ability to help and has no source of income.

15. "Housing reform housing" is different from ordinary commercial housing, and its housing price is not a simple market price. The "housing reform house" purchased by one spouse with preferential seniority of the deceased spouse should be recognized as the joint property of the husband and wife in consideration of the inheritance from the leasehold to ownership.

16. According to Article 24 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Application of Law on Foreign related Civil Relations, the parties to a marital property relationship may choose by agreement to apply the law of one party's habitual residence, the law of the country of nationality or the law of the place where the main property is located. If the parties have no choice, the law of the common habitual residence shall apply; If there is no common habitual residence, the law of the State of common nationality shall apply.

17. The cohabitation of one spouse with others outside marriage violates the prohibitive provisions of the Marriage Law, and this kind of cohabitation outside marriage is illegal; During the duration of the marriage relationship, both husband and wife enjoy the ownership of the joint property without share. When the husband or wife disposes of the joint property of the husband and wife other than for daily life needs, they should reach consensus through consultation. Neither party has the right to dispose of the joint property of the husband and wife alone; If one of the husband and wife donates the common property to others without authorization beyond the needs of daily life, such donation shall be deemed invalid; The people's court shall support the request of the other party of the husband and wife for return on the ground of infringement of the common property right.

18. Children who are minors or cannot live independently have the right to ask their parents to pay maintenance fees, but the payment of maintenance fees and the dispute over property donated by one of the spouses to a third party outside marriage are two different legal relationships. The obligee can claim to pay child maintenance fees in a separate case.

19. The debt guaranteed is different from the debt of husband and wife living together stipulated in the Marriage Law. The debt guaranteed by one of the spouses to the outside cannot be recognized as the debt of husband and wife according to Article 24 of the Interpretation of the Marriage Law (II).