Marriage and Family - Spousal Relationship
Marriage and Family - Spousal Relationship
Chapter III Family Relationship
Section 1 Spousal Relationship
Article 1055 Spouses shall be equal in their marriage and family.
Article 1056 Each spouse shall have the right to use their own name.
Article 1057 Each spouse shall be free to engage in business operations, work, study, and social activities, and neither spouse may restrict or interfere with such activities of the other.
Article 1058 Spouses shall be equally entitled and jointly obligated to raise, educate, and protect their minor children.
Article 1059 Spouses shall support and care for each other.
Either spouse in need of maintenance shall be entitled to claim payment of spousal maintenance by the other if the other fails to perform the obligation.
Article 1060 The civil juristic acts performed by either spouse to meet the needs in the daily life of their family shall be binding on both spouses unless otherwise agreed by either spouse and the counterparty.
Restrictions imposed by either spouse on the other in respect of the scope of civil juristic acts which may be performed by the other shall not be pleaded as a defense against any bona fide counterparty.
Article 1061 Spouses shall be entitled to inherit from each other.
Article 1062 Any of the following properties acquired by both spouses during their marriage shall be community property which shall be owned jointly by both spouses:
(1) wages, bonuses, and remuneration;
(2) profits from business operations and investments;
(3) profits from intellectual property rights;
(4) property inherited or accepted as a gift unless otherwise specified in Article 1063(3) of this Code; and
(5) other properties which shall be jointly owned by both spouses.
Spouses shall have equal rights to dispose of their community property.
Article 1063 Any of the following properties shall be the personal property of either spouse:
(1) the prenuptial property of such spouse;
(2) indemnification or compensation obtained by such spouse for their personal injury;
(3) property to be inherited or received by such spouse under a will or gift contract;
(4) personal daily necessities of such spouse; and
(5) other personal properties of such spouse.
Article 1064 Any debt owed by both spouses through their joint signatures, by either spouse and subsequently ratified by the other, or by both spouses through any other manifestation of mutual assent, and any debt owed by either spouse in their own name during their marriage to meet the needs in the daily life of their family, shall be their community debt.
Any debt owed by either spouse in their own name during their marriage beyond the needs in the daily life of their family shall not be their community debt unless the obligee can prove that the debt is used for their marital life or joint business operations or based on their manifestation of mutual assent.
Article 1065 Spouses may agree that the properties obtained during their marriage and their prenuptial properties may be individually or jointly owned, in part or in whole. Such an agreement shall be in writing. In the absence of such an express agreement, the provisions of Articles 1062 and 1063 of this Code shall apply.
The agreement between spouses on the ownership of their properties obtained during and before their marriage shall be legally binding on both spouses.
Where spouses agree that the properties obtained during their marriage shall be individually owned, any debt owed by either spouse shall be paid out of their personal property if the obligee is aware of such agreement.
Article 1066 During their marriage, either spouse may file a petition with the people's court to sever their community property if:
(1) their interest in the community property is materially damaged due to the other spouse's concealment, transfer, sale, destruction, or squandering of or damage to their community property, or falsification of their community debt; or
(2) a person whom such spouse is legally obligated to support is suffering from a major disease and in need of medical treatment but the other spouse does not agree to pay the medical costs therefor.
Robert Zhang 
Steve Li 