Premarital/prenuptial agreement

Agreements entered into prior to the date of marriage are premarital or prenuptial agreements. Generally speaking and subject to some notable exceptions, under current Chinese marriage law, parties who intend to marry are free to define their respective property rights. In the absence of a premarital agreement, marriage and post-dissolution rights and obligations are determined by the marriage law.

The motivation of the person seeking a premarital agreement usually falls into one of two categories:

(1) the spouse with the assets wants his or her separate property assets protected in the event of a divorce; or

(2) the spouse who holds few assets is giving up a career to stay home and raise a family and, thus, wants to be financially compensated for the loss of his or her career. The law of premarital agreements is very technical in some respects and unless carefully crafted, they may not be enforceable. Most premarital agreements are drafted by qualified family lawyers in China.