Research On The Marital Property System In China

In all ages, people always spare no effort to seek for happy marriage and harmonious family with the traditional idea that the family is the core of one’s life and the foundation for one’s successful career. Therefore, the marital property system is crucial in the legislative system of marriage and family relations. The marital property system, consisted of laws and regulations on the property relations of a couple, covers such legal issues as separating the ownership of prenuptial and postnuptial properties, exercising the management, usufruct and disposal rights of postnuptial properties, sharing property liabilities for a third party, as well as liquidating a couple’s properties upon the termination of the marriage.With the development of China’s market economic system, the implementation of the reforming and opening-up policy and the rapid growth of the country’s economy, Chinese people nowadays have more valued and more various private properties, which makes the marital property relations more complicated than ever. Moreover, with the better material life, the divorce rate is getting higher year by year as people have been paying more attention to their individual happiness. The stability of the marriage and family relations is so more seriously challenged and influenced than ever. Under such circumstances, it is theoretically and practically significant to rationally acknowledge and handle the marital property relations, as well as settle the disputes arising from the establishment or termination of a marriage. This thesis is expected to discuss the defects of China’s existing marital property system, provide suggestions to improve such legal system and so better solve the legal problems on marital properties in practice on the basis of a comprehensive research of the marital property system.This thesis is consisted of four chapters as follows:Chapter One provides a fundamental theory research on the marital property system. Starting from its concept, characteristics and categories, this chapter is supposed to panoramically introduce the marital property system and so provide the theoretical basis for analyzing the defects of China’s existing marital property system and providing effective suggestions.Chapter Two is researching China’s existing marital property system. This part introduces the marital property system in China, especially the co-existence situation of legal property system, contractual property system and separate property system on marital properties.In Chapter Three, the author is analyzing the legal practice of dividing marital properties upon a divorce. Followed the detailed analysis, this chapter provides some schemes of determining and dividing marital properties under some special circumstances.In Chapter Four, the author sums up legislative defects and loopholes of China’s existing marital property system and then provides suggestions on improving the system based on advanced legislative experience of civil law countries and research results previously made by legal experts.