Even after a wedding or banquet, register the marriage: without registration you are not legally spouses and have no spousal inheritance right
After February (2) 1994, holding only a wedding without registering is not marriage in law; it only counts as cohabitation. If the other person dies, you cannot inherit the estate as a spouse. If you want to separate, the court does not handle it as divorce. Making up the registration fixes it, and the effect can be counted back.
No charge. Go together to the marriage registry;
The Civil Code provides that “upon completion of marriage registration, the marriage relationship is establish…
No charge. Go together to the marriage registry; allow a few dozen minutes.
The Civil Code provides that “upon completion of marriage registration, the marriage relationship is established. Where marriage registration has not been handled, it shall be made up.” The Supreme People’s Court’s interpretation splits people who have not registered but live in the name of spouses into two kinds. Those who already met the conditions for marriage before 1 February (2) 1994 are treated as a de facto marriage. After that date, the court “shall inform them to make up the marriage registration.” If they do not make it up, it is handled as cohabitation. If one side dies and the other wants to inherit as a spouse, the same principle applies. A spouse is a first-order heir, so the side that never registered is not in that line. For the cohabitation itself, the court does not accept a request to “dissolve” it. It only accepts disputes over dividing property and raising children. After the registration is made up, the marriage takes effect “from the time both parties met the substantive requirements for marriage provided in the Civil Code.” Children are not affected. “Children” in the Civil Code inheritance book expressly includes children born outside marriage, who are first-order heirs the same as children born in marriage.
全国人大 (2020). 民法典（第一千零四十九、一千一百二十七、一千一百三十一条）. 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，第三、六、七、八条）. https://www.court.gov.cn/fabu/xiangqing/282071.html
Open source linkIf your partner dies before registration, you are not a spousal heir, but you may still receive something. China’s Civil Code allows an appropriate share of the estate for someone who provided substantial support to the deceased. You must present evidence; if no agreement is reached, litigation is necessary. Ordinary first-instance proceedings must be concluded within 6 months under the rules, with extensions permitted, you pay your own lawyer, and the judge decides the share. Complete registration while you are both alive. Both must attend in person, just as for first-time registration; see Item 13 for the required ID documents. Betrothal gifts may be claimed back if the marriage was not registered; see Section 8, Item 24 on paying them by bank transfer. The beneficiaries are you and your spouse.