Civil and Commercial Law Perspective | How Can a Wife Survive When Her Husband Refuses to Fulfill His Child Support Obligations?
Published:
2025-04-02
On December 6, 2008, Zhang and Li registered their marriage. Their relationship was initially good, and they have a son together, Zhang Jia. In 2015 and 2020, they purchased properties located at Building 503, X Apartment, X District, Jinan City and Building 602, X Apartment, X District, Jinan City respectively. They currently reside at Building 602, X Apartment, X District, Jinan City, while the property at Building 503, X Apartment, X District, Jinan City is rented out. Six months ago, Li was diagnosed with acute leukemia, requiring significant medical expenses. Zhang's salary is not high, and he is unable to afford the medical costs. He has refused to pay for Li's treatment, allowing her condition to worsen. The approximately 100,000 yuan for Li's second hospital stay was paid by her parents. Zhang has repeatedly suggested selling the property at Building 503, X Apartment, X District, Jinan City to fund Li's treatment, but these suggestions have been refused. Li has consulted a lawyer regarding the issue of medical expenses.
Case Summary
On December 6, 2008, Zhang and Li registered their marriage. Their relationship was initially good, and they had a son, Zhang Jia. In 2015 and 2020, they purchased properties located at Building 503, × Apartment, × District, Jinan City and Building 602, × Apartment, × District, Jinan City, respectively. They resided together at Building 602, × Apartment, × District, Jinan City, while the property at Building 503, × Apartment, × District, Jinan City was rented out. Six months ago, Li was diagnosed with acute leukemia, requiring substantial medical expenses. Zhang's salary was insufficient to cover the costs, and he refused to pay for Li's treatment, allowing her condition to worsen. Li's parents covered approximately 100,000 yuan for her second hospitalization. Zhang repeatedly suggested selling the property at Building 503, × Apartment, × District, Jinan City to fund Li's treatment, but she refused. Li consulted a lawyer on how to resolve the medical expenses issue.
Lawyer's Opinion
Based on legal provisions, Li has two options: First, she can directly file a lawsuit with the People's Court or apply for mediation with a people's mediation organization to request support payments and the fulfillment of statutory support obligations. Second, she can file a lawsuit with the court to request a division of the couple's jointly owned property to protect her property rights. If the other party does not automatically fulfill the obligations determined by the effective legal document, she can enforce her rights through enforcement procedures.
I. The mutual support obligation between spouses is a statutory obligation and is mandatory.
(a) Article 1059 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China: Spouses have the obligation to support each other.
The party requiring support has the right to demand support payments if the other party fails to fulfill their support obligation.
(b) This statutory obligation cannot be altered by agreement between the spouses.
The support obligation between spouses is based on their marital relationship and is an essential requirement of the marital community. Even if there are agreements between spouses regarding property and related obligations, the support obligation cannot violate the mandatory provisions of the law. The marital property system is merely an agreement between spouses regarding the ownership of property after marriage. It cannot be considered that spouses do not bear the support obligation based on a specific identity relationship simply because the spouses agree to adopt a separate property system. Therefore, even if the spouses agree to adopt a separate property system, when the personal property of one spouse is insufficient to maintain a normal life, they still have the right to request the other party to pay for living expenses. Mutual support is a statutory obligation between spouses. This obligation arises with the establishment of the marital relationship and terminates with the termination of the marital relationship. The law does not stipulate that spouses who adopt a separate property system are exempt from the obligation of mutual support.
II. If one party refuses to pay support, the ill party may request a division of the jointly owned property.
(a) Article 1066 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China stipulates that during the subsistence of a marriage relationship, if any of the following circumstances exist, one spouse may request the people's court to divide the jointly owned property: (1) One party has engaged in acts that seriously harm the interests of the jointly owned property of the spouses, such as concealing, transferring, selling, damaging, squandering, or forging jointly owned debts; (2) A person who has a statutory support obligation of one party suffers from a serious illness requiring treatment, and the other party refuses to pay the relevant medical expenses.
Article 6 of the Supreme People's Court's Interpretation (II) on the Application of the Marriage and Family Chapter of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as "Interpretation (II) on the Marriage and Family Chapter"): If one spouse, without the consent of the other spouse, uses the jointly owned property of the spouses to tip on a network live broadcast platform, and the amount significantly exceeds the general consumption level of their family, seriously harming the interests of the jointly owned property of the spouses, it can be deemed as "squandering" as stipulated in Articles 1066 and 1092 of the Civil Code. If the other party requests a division of the jointly owned property during the subsistence of the marriage relationship, or requests that the tipping party receive less or no share when dividing the jointly owned property upon divorce, the people's court shall support it.
China's statutory marital property system is the joint ownership of post-marital property. Spouses jointly own post-marital property and have equal rights to dispose of it. Under this premise, spouses cannot divide the shares of jointly owned property unless the circumstances stipulated in Article 1066 of the Civil Code and Interpretation (II) on the Marriage and Family Chapter occur, such as concealing, transferring, selling, damaging, or squandering jointly owned property, seriously harming the interests of the jointly owned property of the spouses, or one party's person with a statutory support obligation suffers from a serious illness requiring treatment. Otherwise, spouses have no right to request a division of jointly owned property during the period of joint ownership. They can only divide the jointly owned property and determine their respective shares when the joint ownership relationship terminates. Therefore, except for special cases where an agreed property system is implemented, property gifted by one spouse to a third party during the marriage and tips from network live broadcast platforms are generally considered jointly owned property, and the individual share of the party cannot be distinguished. In addition, disposing of jointly owned property beyond the needs of daily life infringes on the property rights of the spouse. During the subsistence of the marital relationship, one spouse may request a division of the jointly owned property based on the other party's infringement of their property rights, failure to fulfill their support obligations, etc., in accordance with the law.
Regarding the conditions for dividing jointly owned property, the illness of the person with a support obligation is limited to "serious illness," and the other party refuses to pay the relevant medical expenses. The law does not define "serious illness." It can refer to the serious illnesses listed in the "Specification for the Use of Disease Definitions in Major Illness Insurance." A comprehensive judgment should be made based on the patient's actual condition and medical expenses. Generally, it is considered that diseases requiring long-term treatment and high expenses, or diseases directly related to life safety, are considered serious illnesses. "Relevant medical expenses" refer to the necessary and reasonable expenses for treating the illness, excluding expenses such as nutrition and care.
III. There are different opinions in judicial practice on whether a spouse who fails to fulfill their support obligation should directly request support payments or divide marital property when filing a lawsuit.
(a) One view is that such cases should be filed and heard as marital property disputes.
First, Li needs to provide evidence to prove that the property was purchased during the subsistence of their marriage relationship and is jointly owned property;
Second, Li needs to submit a medical certificate issued by the hospital to prove that she has acute leukemia, the specific expenses, and that Zhang refuses to pay these expenses.
(b) Another view is that, according to Article 1059 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (spouses have the obligation to support each other), Li can directly sue Zhang for medical expenses. After the judgment becomes effective, she can apply for enforcement against the jointly owned property.
Legal Links
1. Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 1059 Spouses have the obligation to support each other.
The party requiring support has the right to demand support payments if the other party fails to fulfill their support obligation.
Article 1065: Both parties in a marriage may agree on the ownership of the property acquired during the marriage, as well as premarital property, stipulating that it belongs solely to each party, belongs jointly to both parties, or is partly owned by each party and partly owned jointly. Such agreement must 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.
Any agreement between spouses regarding property acquired during the marriage and premarital property is legally binding on both parties.
If a couple agrees that property acquired during the marriage will be owned separately by each spouse, and one spouse incurs a debt to a third party who is aware of this agreement, the debt shall be settled with the personal property of the said spouse.
Article 1066: During the subsistence of the marriage relationship, under any of the following circumstances, one spouse may petition the people's court for division of the jointly owned property:
(1) One party has engaged in acts that seriously harm the interests of the jointly owned property, such as concealing, transferring, selling, destroying, squandering the jointly owned property, or forging jointly owned debts;
(2) A person with a legal obligation to support one spouse has a serious illness requiring treatment, and the other spouse refuses to pay the associated medical expenses.
2. Interpretation (I) of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Marriage and Family Chapter of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 38: During the subsistence of the marriage relationship, except in the circumstances specified in Article 1066 of the Civil Code, the people's court shall not support a request by one spouse for the division of jointly owned property.
3. Interpretation (II) of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Marriage and Family Chapter of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 6: If one spouse, without the consent of the other, uses jointly owned property to donate on a online live-streaming platform, and the amount significantly exceeds the usual consumption level of the family, seriously harming the interests of the jointly owned property, it can be considered as "squandering" as stipulated in Articles 1066 and 1092 of the Civil Code. If the other party requests a division of the jointly owned property during the subsistence of the marriage relationship, or requests that the donating party receive less or no share when dividing the jointly owned property upon divorce, the people's court shall support this request.
(Statement: This article is based on the author's experience and is for discussion only.)
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