[2] Property agreements must be made cautiously, or you may lose everything in a divorce.
Compiled from: Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court, Jufa
Xiaoli and Aqiang divorced peacefully without domestic violence or infidelity. However, when dividing the property worth 3.3 million yuan, Aqiang ended up with only 2.8 yuan. Why is that? Recently, the Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court concluded this divorce dispute case. Let's find out.
Case review
Shortly after getting married, Xiaoli and Aqiang purchased a property as their marital home. The total price was over 1.7 million yuan, with a down payment of over 1 million yuan provided by Xiaoli's mother, and the remaining over 700,000 yuan paid through a joint provident fund loan taken by Xiaoli and Aqiang. When registering the property, the title was placed under both Xiaoli and Aqiang's names, and they subsequently repaid the loan together.
Xiaoli and Aqiang's relationship gradually deteriorated, often leading to conflicts over household matters, until Aqiang moved out of the house in 2018, and they have been living separately since then.
Xiaoli filed a lawsuit in court, requesting a divorce and the lawful division of their joint marital property.
Opinion of the First Instance Court
Xiaoli had previously filed a lawsuit for divorce, but after the court ruled against it, their relationship did not improve. Since they have now been separated for over two years, the court granted Xiaoli's divorce request. Regarding the jointly owned property, it was confirmed to have a current market value of 3.3 million yuan, with a remaining loan balance of over 500,000 yuan. At the time of purchase, the property was registered as co-owned in shares, with Xiaoli holding a 99% share and Aqiang holding a 1% share.
The First Instance Court held that the property's purchase price consisted of a down payment of over 1 million yuan and a loan of over 700,000 yuan. Given that Xiaoli's mother contributed more than half of the total cost, awarding Aqiang only 1% of the property would be severely disproportionate to his contribution and unfair. Therefore, based on the property registration and considering factors such as the contributions of Xiaoli and Aqiang to the property and the principle of protecting women's rights, the court ruled that the property should belong to Xiaoli. After deducting the remaining loan balance, Xiaoli was ordered to pay Aqiang 500,000 yuan as compensation for his share. Xiaoli disagreed and appealed to the Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court.
Opinion of the Court of Second Instance
This property was purchased by Xiaoli and Aqiang after marriage, and the ownership was registered as co-ownership by shares. Thus, it can be seen that the two parties reached an agreement to jointly own the property in proportion to their respective shares. The above property registration represents the true intention of both parties, complies with the provisions on separate property for spouses, is binding on both parties, and should be executed according to this agreement. Moreover, civil subjects should adhere to the principle of good faith, act honestly, and keep their promises to ensure fairness.
Therefore, the division of this property should not violate the mutual agreement voluntarily reached at the time of ownership registration, and should be divided according to the co-ownership by shares ratio in accordance with the law.
Ultimately, the Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court ruled that Xiaoli and Aqiang should divorce, with the property belonging to Xiaoli. After deducting the remaining loan, the court amended the judgment to require Xiaoli to pay Aqiang a property compensation of 2.8 yuan, with the remaining loan to be repaid by Xiaoli.
Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 297
Immovable or movable property may be co-owned by two or more organizations or individuals. Co-ownership includes co-ownership by shares and joint co-ownership.
Article 1065
Both parties may agree that property acquired during the marriage and pre-marital property shall be owned separately, jointly, or partly separately and partly jointly. Such an agreement shall be in writing. In the absence of an agreement or if the agreement is unclear, the provisions of Articles 1062 and 1063 of this Law shall apply.
An agreement between the husband and wife regarding property acquired during the marriage and pre-marital property is legally binding on both parties.
[1] The author's perspective
From the above legal provisions, it can be seen that there are two forms of co-ownership of a house: one is co-ownership by shares, and the other is joint co-ownership. As the name suggests, co-ownership by shares means that two or more entities or individuals, according to their respective shares, enjoy rights and assume obligations with respect to the jointly owned house. This share does not mean dividing the co-owned house into several parts, with each owning a separate part, but rather that the co-owners enjoy rights and assume obligations with respect to the house as a whole according to their shares.
Joint co-ownership of a house means that two or more entities or individuals equally and without shares enjoy rights and assume obligations with respect to the same house. Joint co-ownership generally arises from a certain relationship, such as husband and wife, family, etc. Each co-owner has equal rights to the co-owned house, and no co-owner can exclude others from exercising their rights. In joint co-ownership, the co-owned house is not divided into shares, and division can only be made when the co-ownership relationship is terminated. It is worth noting that it is not necessary for a husband and wife to have joint co-ownership; if both parties agree to co-ownership by shares, it is also permissible.
The system of agreed property between husband and wife refers to a system in which the law allows both parties to use an agreement to designate certain property as owned by one party or separately owned by both parties. Once the agreement takes effect, both parties shall enjoy rights and assume obligations according to the agreed content. In this case, Xiaoli and Aqiang agreed to co-ownership by shares at the time of registering the house property rights. This agreement is legal and valid. Based on the basic civil law principle that civil subjects should follow the principle of voluntariness, the court of second instance reasonably changed the judgment to divide the house according to the proportion of property registration.
