No need to worry about premarital assets — clearly define property additions and parental contributions
Premarital assets remain your personal property and won’t automatically become joint marital property just because you’ve been married for many years. Couples can put in writing that premarital and postmarital assets belong to each person individually. One important caveat: if you agree to add your spouse’s name to a property title, you can still revoke that agreement before completing the official registration; once registration is finalized, the property becomes their legal property. In divorce proceedings, any party that hides, transfers, squanders or falsifies debts related to shared assets may receive a smaller share or no share at all.
Drafting a written property agreement yourself costs nothi…
Pre-marital property is individual property and will not become community property simply because of the lengt…
Drafting a written property agreement yourself costs nothing; notarization incurs additional fees. When parents contribute funds, ask them to provide a brief written statement. The whole process takes just a few hours. The hardest part is bringing up money matters with family members.
Pre-marital property is individual property and will not become community property simply because of the length of the marriage. Spouses may agree in writing: that pre-marital property and post-marital income shall belong to each individual, belong to the community, or a portion shall be community; this agreement is binding on both parties. If parents provide funds to purchase a house before marriage, it is regarded as a gift to their child, unless it is explicitly stated to be for both individuals. For funds provided by parents after marriage, they shall be handled according to the agreement; if there is no agreement, they shall be handled according to the principle of community property. Agreements made before or during marriage to gift one party's real estate to the other, or to change it to joint ownership, can be revoked before the registration of the change is completed. After registration, it belongs to the other party. In the event of divorce, the party that hides, transfers, sells, or squanders community property, or forges debts, may receive less or no share (National/China)
全国人大 (2020). 民法典（第一千零六十三、一千零六十五、一千零九十二条）. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202006/t20200602_463888.shtml；最高人民法院 (2020). 关于适用《民法典》婚姻家庭编的解释（一）（法释〔2020〕22 号，第二十九、三十一、三十二条）. https://www.court.gov.cn/fabu/xiangqing/282071.html
Open source linkProperty agreements are equally valid for both men and women. To use such an agreement to protect yourself from your spouse’s debts owed to third parties, the creditor must be aware of the existence of this agreement; if they are unaware, they cannot enforce it against you. An unnotarized property agreement remains legally valid; notarization simply helps avoid future disputes over signatures and dates. For guidance on how to clearly document whether parental contributions toward a home purchase are loans or gifts, refer to Section 10, Article 11 (Parental contributions toward home purchases).