After divorce, she took her son and rented an apartment, then rose to fame again—what does Tan Songyun's co-star, a lawyer specializing in custody and property division, think?
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A female actress rented a home and lived with her son after divorce, and several years later regained popularity by starring alongside Tan Songyun in a hit drama—this entertainment news item was widely discussed on social media. Most people see a “comeback” and a “revival,” but as lawyers who have long handled matrimonial and family cases, we see a typical post-divorce path for child custody and property arrangements: failing to obtain real estate in the divorce, renting with the child, bearing sole responsibility for raising the child, and then seeing her career rebound several years later. The legal issues behind this—how custody is determined, whether the party who rents may thereby be at a disadvantage in a custody dispute, how property is divided upon divorce, and how child support is set—are what truly affect ordinary people’s lives. The buzz of entertainment news will pass, but the rules of the Marriage and Family Part of the Civil Code are applied in real cases every day.
1. Will renting a home and raising the child affect the determination of custody?
This is one of the questions clients ask most often. Many women going through divorce worry that, because they temporarily do not own real estate and are renting with their children, they are at a natural disadvantage in the fight for custody. In legal terms, however, this concern is unfounded.
Article 1084, paragraph 3 of the Civil Code provides that after divorce, children under two years of age shall, as a general rule, be directly raised by the mother; for children who have reached two years of age, if the parents fail to reach an agreement on custody, the people's court shall adjudicate according to the specific circumstances of both parties and the principle of the best interests of the minor child; for children who have reached eight years of age, their true wishes shall be respected. The key phrase here is the best interests of the minor child, not whoever owns a house takes priority.
Articles 46 to 48 of the Interpretation (I) of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Marriage and Family Part of the Civil Code further refine the factors for determination, including: the duration and stability of living with the child, both parents' child-rearing capacity and conditions, the child's health status and convenience for schooling, whether either party has circumstances detrimental to the child's physical and mental health, etc. Real estate is merely one factor in child-rearing conditions, not a decisive factor. In practice, courts place greater emphasis on: whom the child currently lives with, whether the living situation is stable, whether transferring schools or changing the living environment would be detrimental to the child, and which party can provide more sustained companionship and care.
In other words, renting a home is not itself a negative factor; what may truly count against a party is “residential instability”—for example, frequent moves, having no fixed residence, or being unable to ensure the child’s schooling. If the rental is in a stable location, close to school, and elder relatives help with care, the court may well award custody to the renting party. Conversely, a party who owns a home but travels for work for long periods, leaves the child entirely to a nanny or elderly relatives, and lacks actual day-to-day involvement does not necessarily have the advantage.
Practical legal advice: If you are going through a divorce and hope to obtain custody, you should preserve evidence of actual caregiving as early as possible, including daily pickup and drop-off records, records of accompanying the child to medical appointments, school communication records, rental contracts and proof of stable residence, and proof of income and employment stability. In litigation, these materials are more persuasive than merely emphasizing that you have a house.
II. Division of Marital Property in Divorce: How Are the House, Savings, and Post-Comeback Income Calculated?
The reason “making a comeback after divorce” draws attention in entertainment news is that it touches on a real-world issue: if one party’s income was not high at the time of divorce, and their career suddenly takes off after the divorce, can the other party demand another division of property?
The answer must be divided into two situations. First, the marital community property that already exists at the time of divorce, including real estate, deposits, vehicles, equity interests, investment income, etc., should in principle be divided. Article 1087 of the Civil Code provides that upon divorce, the community property of the spouses shall be disposed of by agreement between the two parties; if no agreement is reached, the people's court shall, based on the specific circumstances of the property, render a judgment in accordance with the principle of giving consideration to the rights and interests of children, the wife, and the party not at fault. Article 1062 specifies the scope of marital community property, including wages, bonuses, remuneration for labor services, income from production, business operations, and investment, income from intellectual property rights, etc.
Second, income newly acquired by one party after divorce is, in principle, that party’s personal property, and the other party has no right to seek its division. Because the marital relationship has already been dissolved, the basis for community property no longer exists. Even if one party’s income increases substantially after divorce due to acting, starting a business, or investment, as long as the income is generated after the divorce, it is generally not included within the scope of the former spouses’ community property.
However, one exception warrants attention: if, at the time of divorce, one party concealed, transferred, sold off, or damaged or destroyed joint marital property, or if one party used a “walk-away-with-nothing” agreement to obtain a quick divorce and the other party later discovered that the first party had concealed property, the other party may, within three years from the day after such discovery, request a further division of the property in accordance with Article 1092 of the Civil Code. In practice, the income structure in the film and television industry is complex, and performance fees, endorsement fees, studio dividends, equity returns, and similar items may be settled on a delayed basis. If a divorce agreement fails to make arrangements for “unsettled income,” disputes are likely to arise later.
Lawyers recommend that when drafting a divorce agreement, one should not merely include a general statement such as property under each party’s name belongs to that party. Instead, a list of known assets should be set out, and clear provisions should be made for possible unsettled payments, accounts receivable, equity dividends, and intellectual property income; where necessary, disclosure obligations and breach of contract liability clauses should be included to avoid difficulties in future claims or recovery.
3. How is child support determined? Can the party renting housing request the other party to bear more of it?
After divorce, when one parent takes the child to live in rented housing, the economic pressure tends to fall heavily on the parent who has direct custody. Determining and adjusting child support is the most practical pain point for these families.
Article 1085 of the Civil Code provides that after divorce, if a child is directly raised by one party, the other party shall bear part or all of the child support. The amount of the support and the duration shall be agreed upon by both parties; if no agreement is reached, the people's court shall make a judgment. Relevant judicial interpretations of the Supreme People's Court specify that child support is generally paid at a proportion of 20% to 30% of monthly total income; where two or more children are to be supported, the proportion may be appropriately increased, but generally shall not exceed 50% of monthly total income. Where there is no fixed income, it may be determined based on the total annual income of the year or the average income of the same industry, with reference to the above proportions.
Several practical points are easily overlooked here. First, child support includes living expenses, education expenses, and medical expenses, but “education expenses” usually refers to regular education expenses at public schools. Major expenditures such as private schools, extracurricular training, and studying abroad must be separately negotiated by the parties or determined by a court based on necessity and reasonableness. Second, child support is not immutable. Where the originally ordered amount of child support is insufficient to maintain the local actual living standard, the child’s actual needs increase due to illness or schooling, or the financial situation of the parent with direct custody deteriorates significantly, the child may request an increase in child support pursuant to Article 1085 of the Civil Code and relevant judicial interpretations. Third, if the other party’s income is unstable or the other party deliberately conceals income, the true income level can be ascertained by applying for a court investigation order and obtaining bank statements, social security contribution records, tax records, and other such materials.
For the party renting housing, rent expenses themselves are generally not treated as a separate item in calculating child support, but may be included as part of the “child’s actual living needs” and stated together when claiming the amount of child support. If the other party fails to pay child support for a long period, one may apply to the court for compulsory enforcement, and the court may take measures such as freezing bank accounts, placing the party on the list of dishonest judgment debtors, and restricting high-level consumption.
IV. From Entertainment News to Practical Lessons: Divorce Arrangements Must Withstand the Test of Time
A celebrity’s post-divorce resurgence is the result of personal effort and opportunity; but for ordinary people, life after divorce depends more on whether the agreement or judgment from the divorce is fair and enforceable.
From a lawyer’s perspective, this high-profile incident offers three lessons for ordinary people. First, custody is not settled for good once it is won. If the parent with primary custody later faces circumstances detrimental to the child’s growth, the other parent may request a change in custody arrangements under the Civil Code and relevant judicial interpretations. Second, a divorce agreement is not finished once it is signed. If provisions such as property disclosure, adjustment of child support, visitation arrangements, and allocation of major expenses are not properly designed, the cost of later disputes will be far higher than the fee originally paid to have a lawyer draft the agreement. Third, renting a home does not make a person inferior. The law judges what is in the best interests of the minor child, not who has more assets. A stable living environment, continuous companionship, and good schooling arrangements are the factors courts truly value.
The marriage and family team at Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm has handled a large number of cases in its long-term practice involving custody disputes, division of marital property in divorce, child support claims, and the drafting of divorce agreements. We usually advise clients to complete three things before divorce: compile an inventory of assets and secure evidence, assess the favorable and unfavorable factors for custody, and include enforceable default and disclosure clauses in the agreement. A comeback in entertainment news cannot be replicated, but a rigorous divorce legal arrangement can make life after divorce less passive and more certain.
