CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Hongyu Liu, Shuaifeng Wang, Dongda Wei and Chen Rong, King & Capital Law Firm
addresses or the recipient being away, leading to situations where delivery is attempted but not suc ‑ cessful. • Leaving of documents: This applies when the recipient or an adult family member living with them refuses to accept the documents. Tradition ‑ ally, this required a representative from a relevant grassroots organisation or the recipient’s work ‑ place to be present as a witness. However, the law now allows the process to be recorded by taking photos or videos, which is deemed as effective service, alleviating to some extent the difficulty of finding a witness. • Service by public announcement: If all other meth ‑ ods are unsuccessful and the whereabouts of the recipient are unknown, the court will issue a public announcement. Service is deemed effective 30 days after the announcement is made. Proceedings and Timeline The financial proceedings in divorce property divi ‑ sion litigation generally involve several fundamental stages, including filing the lawsuit, court acceptance, evidence exchange, court hearings and judgment. However, the specific process can vary depending on factors such as whether mediation is involved, the complexity of the property and the level of co-opera ‑ tion from the parties involved. The procedure can be broken down into the following phases. • The pre-litigation stage: The plaintiff must submit a statement of claim and supporting evidence (prop ‑ erty certificates, marriage proof, etc) to the compe ‑ tent court. Before formally accepting the case, the court may institute a divorce cooling-off period of up to 30 days to encourage the parties to calmly negotiate, except in cases involving circumstances such as domestic violence or bigamy. • The litigation stage: After the case is accepted, the court serves the parties with a Joint Matrimonial Property Declaration Order, requiring them to fully and truthfully declare all joint matrimonial prop ‑ erty (wages, real estate, equity, financial assets, etc) within the evidence submission period and to sign a guarantee. Failure to declare completely or truthfully may result in receiving a lesser share or no share of the property. The court then organises evidence exchange and court hearings. If both
parties agree, mediation is prioritised to resolve the property division. • Judgment and enforcement: If mediation fails, the court will issue a judgment based on factors such as the nature of the property, contributions to its acquisition, and the principles of caring for the interests of children and the wife. Once the judg ‑ ment takes effect, if one party refuses to comply, the other party can apply for compulsory enforce ‑ ment. Regarding the timeline, according to the Civil Proce ‑ dure Law, if summary procedure is applicable, the typ ‑ ical timeframe is three months from the date of case acceptance. For cases using ordinary procedure, the statutory timeframe is generally six months. However, if the case involves complex issues such as overseas assets, division of company shares or asset valuation, the processing time may be extended to 12 months or even longer. Courts prioritise encouraging media ‑ tion throughout the process. If the parties can reach a mediation agreement, either before or during the trial, it can significantly shorten the litigation cycle. 2.3 Division of Assets The core principle followed by courts when dividing assets in divorce is to distinguish between marital joint property and personal property. Article 1062 of the Civil Code stipulates that the following proper ‑ ties obtained by the spouses during the term of their marriage are considered joint property, owned jointly by the couple: • wages, bonuses and labour remuneration; • incomes derived from production, operation and investment; • proceeds from intellectual property; • properties obtained by inheritance or gift, unless clearly designated to only one party in the will or gift contract; and • other properties that should be considered jointly owned. Spouses have equal rights to dispose of their joint property. Meanwhile, Article 1063 of the Civil Code specifies the scope of personal property, which includes:
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