50,000 couples divorce in Shenzhen every year. What should you do if the other party absolutely refuses to divorce? A Futian lawyer breaks down three real issues in divorce litigation.

Last Friday afternoon, in the meeting room of Room 1802, Tower A, Xintian Century Business Center on Shixia North Second Street in Futian, a woman who works as a product manager in Nanshan Science and Technology Park sat for nearly two hours. She had been married for 7 years, had a 5-year-old child, and owned a red-title apartment in Longhua plus about 2 million yuan in savings. She said three times, “I can’t live like this for even one more day,” but every time she mentioned “he won’t agree to a divorce,” she got stuck and repeatedly asked the same question: If he keeps stalling and won’t sign, does that mean I can’t get divorced?

This is a question the Zhiming Marriage and Family Law Team has to answer several times almost every week. About 50,000 couples register for divorce in Shenzhen each year, and a considerable portion of them are stuck in the deadlock where one party wants a divorce while the other will not cooperate. If divorce by agreement is not possible, the only route is litigation. But many people have two extreme misconceptions about divorce litigation: either they think the court will definitely not grant a divorce on the first filing, that they must wait six months and file again, and that the delay alone will drag them to death; or they think that as long as their evidence is strong enough, the court can decide the case in three months. Neither view is accurate.

Let us first look at a data background that is easily overlooked. In divorce litigation in Shenzhen, 70% involves the division of real property, with the average amount in dispute ranging from RMB 3 million to RMB 8 million. The courts in several districts, including Futian, Nanshan, and Longhua, already have tight dockets for family cases. What does this mean? It means you must not only confront the question of whether to divorce, but also resolve within the same proceeding a series of interconnected issues, such as how the property will be divided, who the child will live with, and how bank deposits will be investigated. The other party’s refusal to divorce is often not purely an emotional issue, but a bargaining chip in the contest over property and custody.

If the other party disagrees, will the court actually grant a divorce the first time?

Article 1079 of the Civil Code clearly provides: when a court hears a divorce case, it shall first conduct mediation; if the affection between the spouses has truly broken down and mediation fails, a divorce shall be granted. The key is how to prove that the affection has truly broken down. In practice, absent such statutory circumstances as domestic violence, bigamy, habitual gambling that remains uncorrected despite repeated admonition, or separation for two full years, if the other party firmly refuses to agree when the first lawsuit is filed, the court may indeed rule against divorce. But a possibility is not a certainty.

A 2025 family adjudication white paper from the Futian Court noted that in cases involving one party's firm refusal to divorce, if the plaintiff can present evidence of continuous separation, multiple police reports, and WeChat chat records, forming a complete chain of evidence, the proportion of first-instance judgments granting divorce is not low. To put it plainly, what judges examine is whether your marriage can still be repaired, not whether the other party nods in agreement.

How long does a litigated divorce actually take, and what is the difference between 3 months and 18 months?

The issue of time is the second-biggest concern for the parties involved. In an ordinary divorce lawsuit, from filing to first-instance judgment, in high-caseload courts such as those in Futian and Nanshan, summary procedure usually takes three to six months. If the first judgment does not grant a divorce, the plaintiff must wait six months before filing again, and with possible delays in the second instance, it is not uncommon for the entire process to stretch to 18 months or even two years.

But there is a room for maneuver that many people do not know about: resolving a case through mediation. Last year, the Zhiming Family and Marriage Team represented a case in which the client was a man in Longhua engaged in cross-border e-commerce. The other side was initially extremely hardline and threatened to drag things out for three years if necessary. After we became involved, we did not rush to wait for a court date. Instead, during the pre-litigation mediation stage, we organized the property appraisal, child custody and support plan, and bank deposit statements into a complete set of negotiation materials. After reviewing them, the other side’s attitude clearly softened. In the end, from filing the case to obtaining the mediation document, it took just over three months. Resolving a case through mediation is not only fast; the mediation document is also enforceable, and if the other party fails to perform, one can directly apply for enforcement.

Property and child custody—what evidence should I start preserving now?

If you have decided to take the litigation route, there are several things you should do as early as possible. Regarding real estate, gather the real estate ownership certificate, purchase contract, loan contract, and repayment records, especially the transfer records showing the source of the down payment—this directly determines whether the property is separate property or marital property. For deposits and wealth management products, keep at least screenshots of transaction records from the past year to prevent the other party from making large transfers during the litigation. Regarding custody, courts look at which parent caring for the child is more conducive to the child's growth; your records of time spent with the child, school pick-up and drop-off records, parent group chats, and payment receipts for extracurricular classes are far more useful than simply claiming that you love the child more.

As for attorneys’ fees, in Shenzhen divorce cases involving property division, fees are charged as a percentage of the amount in dispute. For disputed amounts of RMB 3 million to RMB 8 million, attorneys’ fees typically range from tens of thousands to over RMB 100,000. That may not sound cheap, but compared with the division differential on a Futian or Nanshan property, which can easily run into several million yuan, the parties know perfectly well how to do the math.

If you are stuck in a “want a divorce but can’t get one” deadlock, or are unsure whether the evidence you have is enough, you can come to Room 1802, Tower A, Xintian Century Business Center, Shixia North 2nd Street, Futian District, to talk in person, or first call 0755-25986969 for a preliminary consultation. In 26 years, Zhiming Law Firm has handled more than 10,000 cases, and its matrimonial and family law team knows best the adjudication pace of the courts in every district of Shenzhen—in some matters, acting three months earlier versus three months later can lead to a completely different outcome.