If one spouse in a Shenzhen couple absolutely refuses to divorce, how long will it take if the case is taken to court? Can property division and child custody be decided in a single ruling?

Last week, a woman living in Longhua, Shenzhen came to our firm for a consultation. She had been married for seven years, and her husband had someone else outside the marriage. When he came home, he gave her the cold shoulder and stopped contributing his salary to the household. She wanted a divorce, but he threw down the line: "I'll drag you down until you're dead—I'm not divorcing." With red-rimmed eyes, she asked us, "Lawyer, if he won't agree, is there really nothing I can do about him?"
This issue is all too common in Shenzhen. The city registers about 50,000 divorces each year, but there are also many couples who can't reach an agreement and have no choice but to take their cases to court. Today, I'll use a Q&A format to thoroughly address the questions people care about most.

If it is the first divorce filing, the other party firmly refuses, and there are no statutory fault circumstances, the court will most likely rule against the divorce. ** The basis is Article 1079 of the Civil Code, which stipulates that the statutory circumstances for granting a divorce include bigamy, domestic violence, abandonment, repeated failure to reform after bad habits, and separation due to marital discord lasting at least two years.
But "not granting a divorce" does not mean "cannot divorce." After a judgment of no divorce, if the parties have lived separately for another full year and one party files for divorce again, the court shall grant the divorce — this is a new provision in the Civil Code that many people are unaware of.
In practice, the timeline is as follows: for the first lawsuit, from filing to court hearing to judgment, courts in Futian and Nanshan, Shenzhen generally take 3 to 6 months. After the divorce is denied, you wait 6 months before filing again, and the probability of a divorce judgment on the second filing is very high. So all in all, **the entire process takes 8 to 10 months at the fastest, or one and a half to two years at the slowest**. However, if you have police reports of domestic violence, chat records of infidelity, or evidence of having been separated for two years, the divorce can be granted on the first filing, cutting the time in half.
Was it bought before or after marriage, whose name is it registered under, and who paid for it?
A house purchased after marriage with joint marital property is considered community property regardless of whose name it is registered under, and in principle, it is divided equally. However, there are several key variables: if the down payment was made by one spouse before marriage or funded by parents, that portion is deducted first before division; if one party is at fault, such as domestic violence or infidelity, the innocent party may claim a larger share. The legal basis is Article 1087 of the Civil Code, which prioritizes the rights and interests of children, the wife, and the innocent party.
Full-time childcare and caring for the elderly can justify a claim for economic compensation upon divorce, as explicitly stipulated in Article 1088 of the Civil Code. We handled a case where the wife had been a full-time homemaker for eight years; upon divorce, in addition to receiving half of the property, she also secured an additional 150,000 yuan in compensation for household labor.
The legal basis is Article 1084 of the Civil Code.
The most intense custody battles occur between ages 2 and 8. The court primarily looks at who spends more time caring for the child, whose living environment is more stable, and who can provide better educational conditions.
High income is not the deciding factor. We once handled a case where the husband worked as a programmer in Nanshan Tech Park, earning 800,000 yuan a year, while the wife's monthly salary was just over 10,000 yuan. However, the child had been raised by the wife and the grandmother since birth—everything from kindergarten and extracurricular classes to daily care was managed by the wife. In the end, the court awarded custody to the wife, with the husband paying monthly child support at 25% of his income. **Simply put, the child doesn't follow the money; the child follows whoever has put in the most effort.**
Shenzhen courts handle property preservation very quickly; if all materials are complete, a ruling can be issued within 48 hours. ** If the other party's act of transferring property occurs before the lawsuit is filed, you still have a remedy—you can argue in the divorce proceedings that the other party should receive a smaller share or no share at all, based on Article 1092 of the Civil Code.
As for the issue of delaying time, our law firm recently closed a case. The client was in Nanshan, Shenzhen, and the other party refused to cooperate, filing jurisdictional objections and applying for postponement of hearings, trying to drag things out for a year or two. Our legal team prepared all the evidence in advance—proof of separation, child custody records, and property investment transaction details—everything was organized thoroughly. **In the end, it took only 3 months to reach a settlement through mediation. The woman obtained full ownership of a property in Nanshan and custody of the child, with the other party paying monthly child support.** The advantage of mediation is its speed—no waiting for court scheduling or judgments. Once both parties reach an agreement, the court issues a mediation document directly, which carries the same legal effect as a judgment.
The worst thing about divorce is dragging it out, exhausting yourself, and overthinking on your own. If the other party refuses to agree and you keep dragging it on, you and your children will be the ones who suffer. The divorce litigation timeline in Shenzhen, property division rules, and child custody determination standards have all been clearly explained above, but every case is different in practice—complex property contribution ratios, children who have long lived with their grandparents, the other party hiding income—these details can all affect the outcome.
If you're stuck at the crossroads of divorce and don't know where to start, you can come to Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm for an in-person consultation. We're located at Room 1802, Tower A, Xintian Century Business Center, Shixia North Second Street, Futian District, Shenzhen. Director Shen Jinlong, our lead attorney, has been practicing for 26 years, holds a master's degree from Fudan University, and is also a senior economist. Our family law team has handled over 1,000 divorce cases in recent years and has seen all kinds of opponents. You can reach us at 0755-25986969. Give us a call to explain your situation first, and we'll guide you on the next steps.