China’s New Marriage Law Favors Men Over Women
By Fang Xiao Created: August 26, 2011
China’s Supreme Court issued a new judicial proviso pertaining to marriage law applications on Aug. 12. The proviso became effective on Aug.13 and immediately triggered widespread argument and criticism.
Marriage law in China previously stated that married couples share joint ownership of property. However, the new proviso stipulates that in the event of a divorce, a house by law belongs to the individual who made the down payment, or in the case where parents purchased the house, it belongs to them, whereas the other spouse is awarded nothing.
In the many cases where women will not have made the down payment on property, even though the women may have made a significant contribution in mortgage payments, in the event of divorce, the new stipulation states that the spouse should receive compensation for mortgage payments, based on the market value of the house.