Can a Spouse Ask for a Division of Couple's Jointly-Owned Property Without Divorce?
2020/1/8
Zhao Qian and Zhou Wu are spouses. Husband Zhou Wu works all year round. His wife Zhao Qian is a housewife and has no source of income. Zhou Wu's father, Zhou Wang, was bedridden at home and needed high medical expenses. Zhou Wu not only never sent money home, he also ignored Zhao Qian and his father. As a result, Zhao Qian brought Zhou Wu to the court, demanding that the couple's jointly-owned property be divided.
If spouses are not divorced, can one of the couple claim to divide the couple's jointly-owned property?
According to Article 4 of Interpretation of Marriage Law (3), if a spouse requests to divide couple's jointly-owned property during marriage, the people's court will not support it, except for the following major reasons and without prejudice to the interests of creditors: (1) One party has acted in such a way as to conceal, transfer, sell, destroy, splurge on the couple's jointly-owned property, or forge the common debt of the husband and wife; (2) a person with legal support obligations on one side needs to be treated for a major illness, and the other spouse does not agree to pay related medical expenses.
According to this interpretation, in general, a spouse has no right to advocate the division of couple's jointly-owned property during marriage, but if there are particularly significant reasons, the couple's jointly-owned property can be requested without requiring a divorce.
Zhou Wu's father, Zhou Wang, stayed in bed at home for a long time. Zhou Wu had legal support obligations, but Zhou Wu ignored it. This is in line with the second situation stipulated in Article 4 of the Interpretation of the Marriage Law (3). In this case, without divorce, Zhao Qian can ask the court to divide the couple's jointly-owned property. Moreover, Zhou Wu worked outside the house all year round without fulfilling his duties as a husband, and did not take care of or support the elderly. The court would normally allocate more property to Zhao Qian.
We would like to remind everyone that in general, you can't ask for a share of the couple's jointly-owned property without divorce. However, if there are special circumstances provided for by law, the division of the couple's jointly-owned property can be requested without divorce.