Chapter I General
Provisions
Article 1 This Law is the
Fundamental code governing marriage and family
relations.
Article 2 A marriage system based on
the free choice of partners, on monogamy and on equality
between man and woman shall be applied.
The
lawful rights and interests of women, children and old
people shall be protected.
Family planning
shall be practised.
Article 3 Marriage upon
arbitrary decision by any third party, mercenary marriage
and any other acts of interference in the freedom of
marriage shall be prohibited. The exaction of money or gifts
in connection with marriage shall be
prohibited.
Bigamy shall be prohibited.
Cohabitation of a married person with any third party shall
be prohibited. Domestic violence shall be prohibited. Within
the family maltreatment and desertion of one family member
by another shall be prohibited.
Article 4
Husband and wife shall be faithful to and respect each
other. Within the family family members shall respect the
old and cherish the young, help one another, and maintain
equal, harmonious and civilized marriage and family
relations.
Chapter II Marriage
Contract
Article 5 Marriage must by
based upon the complete willingness of both man and woman.
Neither party may use compulsion on the other party and no
third party may interfere.
Article 6 No
marriage may be contracted before the man has reached 22
years of age and the woman 20 years of age. Late marriage
and late childbirth shall be
encouraged.
Article 7 No marriage may be
contracted under any of the following
circumstances:
(1)if the man and the woman are
lineal relatives by blood, or collateral relatives by blood
up to the third degree of kinship; and
(2)if
the man or the woman is suffering from any disease, which is
regarded by medical science as rendering a person unfit for
marriage.
Article 8 Both the man and the woman
desiring to contract a marriage shall register in person
with the marriage registration office. If the proposed
marriage is found to conform with the provisions of this
Law, the couple shall be allowed to register and issued
marriage certificates. The husband and wife relationship
shall be established as soon as they acquire the marriage
certificates. In the absence of the marriage registration,
the man and the woman shall go through the procedures
subsequently.
Article 9 After a marriage has
been registered, the woman may become a member of the man's
family or vice versa, depending on the agreed wishes of the
two parties.
Article 10 Marriage shall be
invalid under any of the following
circumstances:
(1)if one party commits
bigamy;
(2)if the man and the woman are
relatives by blood up to the third degree of
kinship;
(3)if, before marriage, one party is
suffering from a disease which is regarded by medical
science as rendering a person unfit for marriage and, after
marriage, a cure is not effected; and
(4)if the
legally marriageable age is not
attained.
Article 11 In the case of a marriage
made under coercion, the coerced party may make a request to
the marriage registration office or the people's court for
the dissolution of the marriage contract. Such a request
shall be made within one year as of the marriage
registration date. The party concerned whose personal
freedom is curbed illegitimately shall make a request for
dissolution of the marriage contract within one year as of
the date on which his or her personal freedom is
restored.
Article 12 Void or dissolved marriage
shall be invalid from its inception. Neither party concerned
shall have the rights and duties of husband or wife. The
property acquired during their cohabitation shall be subject
to disposition by mutual agreement. If they fail to reach an
agreement, the people's court shall give a ruling on the
principle of caring for the no-fault party. The disposition
of the property of void marriage caused by bigamy may not be
to the detriment of the property rights and interests of the
party concerned to the lawful marriage. The provisions of
this Law regarding parents and children shall apply to the
children born from the parties
concerned.
Chapter III Family
Relations
Article 13 Husband and wife
shall have equal status in the family.
Article
14 Both husband and wife shall have the right to use his or
her own surname and given name.
Article 15 Both
husband and wife shall have the freedom to engage in
production and other work, to study and to participate in
social activities; neither party may restrict or interfere
with the other party.
Article 16 Both husband
and wife shall have the duty to practise family
planning.
Article 17 The following items of
property acquired by husband and wife during the period in
which they are under contract of marriage shall be jointly
possessed:
(1)pay and
bonus;
(2)earnings from production and
operation;
(3)earnings from intellectual
property rights;
(4)property obtained from
inheritance of gift except as provided for in Article 18(3)
of this Law; and
(5)Any other items of property
which shall be in his or her separate
possession.
Article 19 So far as the property
acquired during the period in which they are under contract
of marriage and the prenuptial property are concerned,
husband and wife may agree as to whether they should be in
the separate possession, joint possession or partly separate
possession and partly joint possession. The agreement shall
be made in writing. The provisions of Articles 17 and 18 of
this Law shall apply to the absence of such an agreement or
to a vague one.
The agreement reached between
the husband and wife on the property acquired during the
period in which they are under contract of marriage and on
the prenuptial property is binding on both
parties.
If husband and wife agree, as is known
to the third party, to separately possess their property
acquired during their marriage life, the debt owed by the
husband or the wife to any other person, shall be paid off
out of the property separately possessed by him or
her.
Article 20 Husband and wife shall have the
duty to maintain each other.
If one party fails
to perform this duty, the party in need of maintenance shall
have the right to demand maintenance payments from the other
party.
Article 21 Parents shall have the duty
to bring up and educate their children; children shall have
the duty to support and assist their
parents.
If parents fail to perform their duty,
children who are minors or who are incapable of living on
their own shall have the right to demand the cost of
upbringing from their parents.
If children fail
to perform their duty, parents who are unable to work or
have difficulties in providing for themselves shall have the
right to demand support payments from their
children.
Infant drowning, deserting and any
other acts causing serious harm to infants and infanticide
shall be prohibited.
Article 22 Children may
adopt their father's or their mother's
surname.
Article 23 Parents shall have the
right and duty to subject their children who are minors to
discipline and to protect them. If children who are minors
cause damage to the state, the collective, or individuals,
their parents shall have the duty to bear civil
liability.
Article 24 Husband and wife shall
have the right to inherit each other's
property.
Parents and children shall have right
to inherit each other's property.
Article 25
Children born out of wedlock shall enjoy the same rights as
children born in wedlock. No one may harm or discriminate
against them.
The natural father or the natural
mother who does not rear directly his or her child born out
of wedlock shall bear the child's living and educational
expenses until the child can support himself or
herself.
Article 26 The state shall protect
lawful adoption. The relevant provisions of this Law
governing the relationship between parents and children
shall apply to the rights and duties in the relationship
between foster parents and foster children.
The
right and duties in the relationship between a foster child
and his or her natural parents shall terminate with the
establishment of this adoption.
Article 27
Maltreatment or discrimination shall not be permitted
between stepparents and stepchildren.
The
relevant provisions in this Law governing the relationship
between parents and children shall apply to the rights and
duties in the relationship between stepfathers or
stepmothers and their stepchildren who receive care and
education from them.
Article 28 Grandparents or
maternal grandparents who can afford it shall have the duty
to bring up their grandchildren or maternal grandchildren
who are minors and whose parents are dead or have no
capacity of bringing them up. Grandchildren or maternal
grandchildren who can afford it shall have the duty to
support their grandparents or maternal grandparents whose
children are dead or cannot afford it.
Article
29 Elder brothers or elder sisters who can afford it shall
have the duty to bring up their younger brothers or sisters
who are minors if their parents are dead or have no means to
bring them up. Younger brothers or sisters who have been
brought up by their elder brothers or elder sisters and have
the means of maintenance shall have the duty to support them
who are lacking in the capacity to work and in the source of
income.
Article 30 Children shall have respect
for their parents' matrimonial rights and shall not
interfere in their parents' remarriage and postnuptial life.
Children's duty to maintain their parents shall not
terminate with the change in their parents' matrimonial
relationship.
Chapter IV
Divorce
Article 31 Divorce shall be
granted if husband and wife both desire it. Both parties
shall apply to the marriage registration office for divorce.
The marriage registration office, after clearly establishing
that divorce is desired by both parties and that appropriate
arrangements have been made for the care of any children and
the disposition of property, shall issue the divorce
certificates.
Article 32 When one party alone
desires a divorce, the organizations concerned may carry out
mediation, or the party may appeal directly to a people's
court to start divorce proceedings.
In dealing
with a divorce case, the people's court should carry out
mediation between the parties. Divorce shall be granted if
mediation fails because mutual affection no long
exists.
Divorce shall be granted if mediation
fails under any of the following
circumstances:
(1)bigamy or, cohabitation of a
married person with any third
party;
(2)domestic violence or, maltreatment
and desertion of one family member by
another;
(3)bad habits of gamble or drug
addiction which remain incorrigible despite repeated
admonition;
(4)separation caused by
incompatibility, which lasts two full years;
and
(5)any other circumstances causing
alienation of mutual affection.
Divorce shall
be granted if one party is declared to be missing and the
other party thereby files an action for
divorce.
Article 33 If the spouse of a soldier
in active military service desires a divorce, the soldier's
consent must b e obtained, except that the soldier commits a
serious fault.
Article 34 A husband may not
apply for a divorce when his wife is pregnant or within one
year after the birth of a child or within six months after
pregnancy suspension. This restriction shall not apply in
cases where the wife applies for a divorce, or when the
people's court deems it necessary to accept the divorce
application made by the husband.
Article 35 If,
after divorce, both parties desire to resume their
husband-and-wife relationship, they shall register for the
remarrying of each other with the marriage registration
office.
Article 36 The relationship between
parents and children shall not come to and end with the
parents' divorce. After divorce, whether the children are
put in the custody of the father or the mother, they shall
remain the children of both parents.
After
divorce, both parents shall still have the right and duty to
bring up and educate their children.
In
principle the mother shall have the custody of a breast-fed
infant after divorce. If a dispute arises between the two
parties over the custody of their child who has been weaned
and they fail to reach an agreement, the people's court
shall make a judgment in accordance with the rights and
interests of the child and the actual conditions of both
parents.
Article 37 If, after divorce, one
party has been given custody of a child, the other parent
shall bear part or the whole of the child's necessary living
and educational expenses. The two parties shall agreement
regarding the amount and duration of such payment. If they
fail to reach an agreement, the people's court shall make a
judgment.
The agreement or the court judgment
on a child's living and educational expenses shall not
prevent the child from making a reasonable request, when
necessary, to either parent for an amount exceeding what was
decided upon in the said agreement or
judgment.
Article 38 After divorce, the father
or the mother who does not rear their children directly
shall have the right to visit them, while the other party
shall have the duty to give assistance.
The
parents shall reach an agreement about how and when to
exercise the right of visit. If they fail to reach an
agreement, the people's court shall make a
judgement.
If the father or the mother visits
their children to the detriment of their mental and physical
health, a people's court shall suspend the right of visit
according to law; and such a right shall be restored after
the main content of the suspension
disappears.
Article 39 At the time of divorce,
the disposition of the property in the joint possession of
husband and wife is subject to agreement between the two
parties. In cases where an agreement cannot be reached, the
people's court shall make a judgement in consideration of
the actual circumstance of the property and on the principle
of caring for the rights and interests of the wife and the
child or children.
The rights and interests
enjoyed by husband or wife in the operation of land under a
contract based on the household shall be protected according
to law.
Article 40 According to a couple's
written agreement, the items of property acquired during
their marriage are in the separate possession. In this
connection, if one party performs more duties in rearing
their children, looking after their elders and assisting the
other party in work, he or she shall have the right at the
time of divorce to request compensation from the other party
who shall make the compensation.
Article 41 At
the time of divorce, debts incurred by the husband and wife
during their marriage shall be paid off out of their jointly
possessed property. If such property is insufficient to pay
off the debts or, the items of the property are in the
separate possession, the two parties shall work out an
agreement with regard to the payment. If they fail to reach
an agreement, the people's court shall make a
judgment.
Article 42 If, at the time of
divorce, one party has difficulties supporting himself or
herself, the other party shall render appropriate help from
her or his personal property such as a dwelling house.
Specific arrangements shall be made between both parties
through consultation. If they fail to reach an agreement,
the people's court shall make a
judgement.
Chapter V Succour
Measures and Legal Liability
Article
43 In regard to the domestic violence to or maltreatment of
family member(s), the victim shall have the right to make a
request, and the neighborhood or villager committee as well
as the units in which the parties concerned work shall
dissuade the wrongdoer, and offer mediation.
In
regard to the domestic violence being committed, the victim
shall have the right to make a request, the neighborhood or
villager committee shall dissuade the wrongdoer, and the
public security organ shall stop the
violence.
If, in regard to the domestic
violence to or maltreatment of family member(s), the victim
makes a request, the public security organ shall subject the
wrongdoer to administrative penalty in accordance with the
relevant provisions of administrative sanctions for public
order.
Article 44 In regard to the desertion of
one family member by another, the victim shall have the
right to make a request, and the neighborhood or villager
committee as well as the units in which the parties
concerned work shall dissuade the wrongdoer and offer
mediation.
If, in regard to the desertion of
one family member by another, the victim makes a request,
the people's court shall pass a judgment on the effecting of
maintenance, upbringing and support payments according to
law.
Article 45 If bigamy, domestic violence to
or maltreatment and desertion of family member(s) constitute
a crime, the criminal responsibility of the wrongdoer shall
be investigated according to law. The victim may institute a
voluntary prosecution in a people's court in accordance with
the relevant provisions of the criminal procedure law. The
public security organ shall investigate the case according
to law and the people's procuratorate shall initiate a
public prosecution according to law.
Article 46
A no-fault party shall have the right to make a request for
damage compensation under any of the following circumstances
bringing about
divorce:
(1)bigamy;
(2)cohabitation
of a married person with any third
party;
(3)domestic violence;
and
(4)maltreatment and desertion of one family
member by another.
Article 47 When the couple's
joint property is divided, the party may get smaller or no
share of the property if he or she conceals, transfers,
sells off, destroys the couple's joint property, or forges
debts in an attempt to convert the other party's property at
the time of divorce. After divorce, the other party, on
finding the above-mentioned acts, may file an action in a
people's court, and make a request for another division of
the couple's joint property.
Regarding the acts
to the prejudice of the civil litigation that are specified
in the preceding paragraph, the people's court shall subject
the wrongdoer to the punishment according to the provisions
of the civil procedure law.
Article 48 In cases
where the person refuses to abide by judgements or rulings
on maintenance, upbringing or support payments, or on the
division or inheritance of property, or on visits to
children, the people's court shall enforce the execution of
the judgements or rulings according to law. The individuals
and units concerned shall have the duty to assist such
executions.
Article 49 Where laws provide
otherwise against illegal acts and for legal liability in
regard to marriage and family, the provisions in such laws
shall apply.
Chapter VI
Supplimentary Provisions
Article 50
The people's congresses in national autonomous areas shall
have the right to formulate certain adaptations in the light
of the specific conditions of the local nationalities in
regard to marriage and family. Provisions of adaptations
formulated by autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties
must be submitted to the standing committee of the people's
congress of the relevant province or autonomous region or
municipality directly under the Central Government for
approval. Provisions of adaptations formulated by autonomous
regions must be submitted to the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress for the
record.
Article 51 This Law shall come into
force as of January 1, 1981.
The Marriage Law
of the People's Republic of China promulgated on May 1, 1950
shall be invalidated as of the day this Law comes into force.
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