The Supplementary Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Interpretation and (II) of Several Issues Concerning the Application of the the People's Republic of China Marriage Law, as adopted at the 1710th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on February 20, 2017, are hereby issued and shall come into force on March 1, 2017.

　　Supreme People's Court

　　28 February 2017

 

Fa release [2017] No. 6

Report of the Supreme People's Court on

Supplementary Provisions on the (II) of Interpretation of Several Issues Concerning the Application of the the People's Republic of China Marriage Law

(Adopted at the 1710th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on February 20, 2017, and effective as of March 1, 2017)

　　Two paragraphs are added to Article 24 of the Interpretation (II) of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the the People's Republic of China Marriage Law as the second and third paragraphs of the article:

　　If one of the spouses colludes with a third person to fabricate debts, and the third person claims rights, the people's court shall not support it.

If one of the spouses is in debt in gambling, drug abuse and other illegal and criminal activities, and the third party claims rights, the people's court will not support it.

 

Annex: (II) of Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the the People's Republic of China Marriage Law

 

Report of the Supreme People's Court on

(II) on the interpretation of some problems in the application of the the People's Republic of China Marriage Law

(Adopted at the 1299th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on December 4, 2003

According to the 1710th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on February 20, 2017

Supplementary Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Interpretation and (II) of Several Issues Concerning the Application of the the People's Republic of China Marriage Law, amended)

　　In order to correctly hear cases of marriage and family disputes, in accordance with the the People's Republic of China Marriage Law (hereinafter referred to as the Marriage Law), the the People's Republic of China Civil Procedure Law and other relevant laws and regulations, the relevant issues concerning the application of the Marriage Law by the people's courts are explained as follows:

　　Article 1 The people's court shall not accept a lawsuit filed by a party requesting the dissolution of the cohabitation relationship. However, if the cohabitation relationship requested by the parties to be dissolved belongs to the "cohabitation of a spouse with another person" as stipulated in Articles 3, 32 and 46 of the Marriage Law, the people's court shall accept it and dissolve it in accordance with the law.

　　If a party brings a lawsuit for a dispute over the division of property or the upbringing of children during the period of cohabitation, the people's court shall accept it.

　　Article 2 If, after accepting a case in which an application for annulment of a marriage is applied for, the people's court, upon examination, is indeed an invalid marriage, it shall make a judgment declaring the marriage invalid in accordance with the law. If the plaintiff applies for withdrawal of the lawsuit, it shall not be permitted.

　　Article 3 After the people's court accepts a divorce case, if the marriage is indeed invalid after examination, it shall inform the parties of the circumstances of the marriage and make a judgment declaring the marriage invalid in accordance with the law.

　　Article 4 If the people's court hears a case of invalid marriage involving the division of property and the upbringing of children, it shall make separate judgment documents for the determination of the validity of the marriage and the handling of other disputes.

　　Article 5 Within one year after the death of one or both spouses, if the surviving party or the interested party applies for declaring the marriage invalid in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of the Marriage Law, the people's court shall accept the application.

　　Article 6 If an interested party applies to the people's court for a declaration of marriage invalidation in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 of the Marriage Law, the interested party shall be the applicant and the parties to the marriage shall be the respondent.

　　If one of the spouses dies, the surviving party shall be the respondent.

　　If both husband and wife are dead, the respondent shall not be listed.

　　Article 7 If the people's court has respectively accepted a case of divorce and an application for annulment of marriage for the same marriage relationship, the trial of the divorce case shall be conducted after the judgment of the case of applying for annulment of marriage is rendered.

　　After the marriage relationship referred to in the preceding paragraph has been declared invalid, if it involves the division of property and the upbringing of children, the trial shall continue.

　　Article 8 The provisions on the division of property in the divorce agreement or the agreement reached by the parties on the division of property as a result of the divorce are legally binding on both men and women.

　　If a party brings a lawsuit due to a dispute over the performance of the above-mentioned property division agreement, the people's court shall accept it.

　　Article 9 If a man and a woman go back on their word on the division of property within one year after the divorce by agreement, and request the modification or cancellation of the property division agreement, the people's court shall accept it.

　　If, after the trial, the people's court does not find that there was fraud or coercion in the conclusion of the property division agreement, it shall reject the party's claim in accordance with the law.

　　Article 10 If the parties request the return of the bride price paid in accordance with the custom, the people's court shall support it if it is found that it belongs to the following circumstances:

　　Both parties of the (I) have not gone through the formalities of marriage registration;

　　(II) both parties go through the formalities of marriage registration but do not live together;

　　(III) premarital benefits and cause difficulties in the life of the payer.

　　The application of the provisions of (II) and (III) of the preceding paragraph shall be conditional on the divorce of both parties.

　　Article 11 During the existence of the marital relationship, the following property belongs to "other property that should be jointly owned" as stipulated in Article 17 of the Marriage Law ":

　　(I)The income obtained by a party from the investment of personal property;

　　(II) housing subsidies and housing accumulation funds that both men and women actually obtain or should obtain;

　　(III) the pension insurance and compensation for bankruptcy resettlement that both men and women actually obtain or should obtain.

　　Article 12 The "proceeds of intellectual property rights" stipulated in the third paragraph of Article 17 of the Marriage Law refers to the property gains that are actually obtained or have been clearly obtained during the existence of the marriage relationship.

　　Article 13 Military casualty insurance, disability benefits and medical living allowances belong to personal property.

　　Article 14 If the people's court hears a divorce case involving one-time expenses such as demobilization fees and self-employment fees paid to military personnel, the amount obtained shall be the joint property of the husband and wife by multiplying the length of the marital relationship by the average annual value.

　　The annual average value mentioned in the preceding paragraph refers to the amount obtained by dividing the total amount of the above-mentioned expenses paid to military personnel equally according to the specific number of years. The specific number of years is the difference between the average life expectancy of 70 years and the actual age of a soldier at the time of his enlistment.

　　Article 15 When the husband and wife divide the stocks, bonds, investment fund shares and other securities in the common property, as well as the shares of an unlisted company limited by shares, if negotiation fails or it is difficult to distribute them at the market price, the people's court may distribute them proportionally according to the quantity.

　　Article 16 If the people's court hears a divorce case involving the division of the joint property of the husband and wife in the name of one party in the limited liability company, and the other party is not a shareholder of the company, it shall be dealt with separately according to the following circumstances:

　　(I) If both husband and wife agree to transfer part or all of the capital contribution to the spouse of the shareholder, and more than half of the shareholders agree and other shareholders explicitly give up the right of first refusal, the spouse of the shareholder can become a shareholder of the company;

　　(II), after the husband and wife have reached an agreement on the transfer of the share of the capital contribution and the transfer price, a majority of the shareholders do not agree to the transfer, but are willing to purchase the capital contribution at the same price, the people's court may divide the property obtained from the transfer of the capital contribution. If a majority of the shareholders do not agree to the transfer and are unwilling to purchase the capital contribution at the same price, they shall be deemed to have agreed to the transfer, and the spouse of the shareholder may become a shareholder of the company.

　　The evidence used to prove the consent of more than half of the shareholders as stipulated in the preceding paragraph may be a resolution of the shareholders' meeting, or a written statement of shareholders obtained by the parties through other legal channels.

　　Article 17 If the people's court hears a divorce case involving the division of the joint property of the husband and wife in the name of one party in the partnership, and the other party is not a partner of the enterprise, when the husband and wife agree to transfer all or part of the share of the property in the partnership to the other party, the following circumstances shall be dealt with separately:

　　(I) If the other partners agree unanimously, the spouse shall obtain the status of partner in accordance with the law;

　　(II) the other partners do not agree to the transfer and exercise the right of priority under the same conditions, the property obtained from the transfer may be divided;

　　(III) the other partners do not agree to the transfer or exercise the right of first refusal, but agree to the partner's withdrawal from the partnership or return part of the property, the returned property may be divided;

　　(IV) the other partners neither agree to the transfer, nor exercise the right of priority transfer, and do not agree to the partner's withdrawal or refund of part of the property share, it shall be deemed that all partners agree to the transfer and the spouse shall obtain the status of partner in accordance with the law.

　　Article 18 Where a husband and wife invest in the establishment of a sole proprietorship enterprise in the name of one party, when the people's court divides the joint property of the husband and wife in the sole proprietorship enterprise, it shall deal with it separately in accordance with the following circumstances:

　　(I) If one party claims to operate the enterprise, after evaluating the assets of the enterprise, the party acquiring the enterprise shall give the other party corresponding compensation;

　　(II) If both parties advocate the operation of the enterprise, the party acquiring the enterprise shall give the other party corresponding compensation on the basis of the bidding of both parties;

　　(III) If both parties are unwilling to operate the enterprise, it shall be handled in accordance with the relevant provisions of the the People's Republic of China Sole Proprietorship Enterprise Law.

　　Article 19 A house leased by one party before marriage and purchased with common property after marriage shall be recognized as the joint property of husband and wife if the certificate of ownership of the house is registered in the name of one party.

　　Article 20 When the two parties cannot reach an agreement on the value and ownership of the house in the joint property of the husband and wife, the people's court shall deal with it separately according to the following circumstances:

　　(I) If both parties claim the ownership of the house and agree to bid for it, it shall be permitted;

　　(II) If one party claims the ownership of the house, the evaluation institution shall evaluate the house according to the market price, and the party who obtains the ownership of the house shall give the other party corresponding compensation;

　　(III) If neither party claims the ownership of the house, the auction of the house shall be divided according to the application of the parties concerned.

　　Article 21 At the time of divorce, if the two parties have a dispute over a house that has not yet acquired ownership or has not yet acquired full ownership and the negotiation fails, the people's court is not suitable to decide on the ownership of the house, and the decision shall be used by the parties according to the actual situation.

　After the parties have obtained full ownership of the house specified in the preceding paragraph, if there is a dispute, they may file a separate lawsuit in a people's court.

　　Article 22 Before the parties get married, if the parents contribute to the purchase of a house for both parties, the contribution shall be recognized as a personal gift to their children, except where the parents clearly indicate that the gift is given to both parties.

　　After the parties get married, if the parents make a capital contribution for the purchase of a house for both parties, the capital contribution shall be recognized as a gift to both husband and wife, except where the parents clearly indicate that the gift is given to one party.

　　Article 23 The people's court shall not support a creditor's claim against the debtor's spouse in respect of a personal debt incurred by one of the parties before marriage. Except where the creditor can prove that the debt was used to live together in the married family.

　　Article 24 Where a creditor claims the right to a debt incurred by one of the spouses in his or her own name during the marriage, it shall be treated as a joint debt of the spouses. However, unless one of the spouses can prove that the creditor and the debtor have expressly agreed to be a personal debt, or can prove that it falls under the circumstances stipulated in the third paragraph of Article 19 of the Marriage Law.

　　If one of the spouses colludes with a third person to fabricate debts, and the third person claims rights, the people's court shall not support it.

　　If one of the spouses is in debt in gambling, drug abuse and other illegal and criminal activities, and the third party claims rights, the people's court will not support it.

　　Article 25 If the divorce agreement of the parties or the judgment, ruling or mediation statement of the people's court has dealt with the division of the property of the husband and wife, the creditor shall still have the right to claim the rights of both men and women in respect of the joint debts of the husband and wife.

　　If one party, after assuming joint and several liability for the joint debt, claims recovery from the other party on the basis of the divorce agreement or the legal documents of the people's court, the people's court shall support it.

　　Article 26 If one of the husband or wife dies, the surviving party shall be jointly and severally liable for the joint debts incurred during the marriage.

　　Article 27 If a party, after going through the divorce registration formalities at the marriage registration authority, makes a claim for damages to the people's court on the grounds stipulated in Article 46 of the Marriage Law, the people's court shall accept it. However, if the parties have clearly stated that they have given up the request at the time of divorce by agreement, or if they have made the request one year after the divorce registration procedures, they will not support it.

　　Article 28 If one of the spouses applies for preservation measures for the personal property of the spouse or the joint property of the husband and wife, the people's court may determine a reasonable amount of property security in the light of the actual situation to the extent that the preservation measures may cause losses.

　　Article 29 This Interpretation shall come into force as of April 1, 2004.

　　After the implementation of this interpretation, the people's court shall apply to the newly accepted cases of marriage and family disputes in the first instance.

　　After the implementation of this Interpretation, if the relevant judicial interpretations previously made by the Supreme People's Court conflict with this Interpretation, this Interpretation shall prevail.