| The joint debt of the spouses refers to the debts that the spouses raise against the creditors,in order to maintain the living during the marital relationship,or to engage in the production and business activities for the purpose of living,or incurred on the basis of common intention of the spouses.It is a difficult problem in judicial practices to determine whether it is a joint debt of the spouse.The facts of such cases are complicated and varied according to the situations,which pose great challenges for judges in understanding and applying the law.In the loan contract dispute arising in the social life,that Song sues Zhou and Zheng,Zheng borrowed 200,000 yuan from Song and issued a debit note signed by him individually.Zhou did not sign the loan and said that he did not know about the loan.After Song filed a lawsuit in the court,the court of first instance held that Zhou and Zheng had signed a marital agreement in relation to the property acquired during the marriage and agreed on that the properties acquired belong to them respectively according to who obtained the ownership of the property.Song did not provide evidence to prove that the debt was the joint debt of the spouse.Therefore,the claim of Song was rejected that the claim that Zhou and Zheng undertake joint and several liability.The court of second instance,after hearing the case,dismissed the appeal of Song and the final judgment maintained the judgment of the first instance.This article first summarises the points whether Zhou and Zheng have the common intention to undertake the joint debt,whether Zheng used the debt for the joint production and living of the spouse,how to allocate the burden of proof,and whether Zhou should bear the responsibility for joint and several liability.Then this article combines with the relevant legal provisions to elaborate the following points:Based on the time of the occurrence of the debt and the principle of privity of contract,it can be held that there is no common intention of the spouse to undertake the debt,the debt is not used for the joint production and living of the spouses,and both parties have the corresponding burden of proof,etc.Then a conclusion was drawn that Zhou should not bear joint and several liability of the debt.It also puts forward the principle of agent power of family affair,the court needs to investigate the common intention of the spouse towards the debt and the use of funds,the creditor should bear the main burden of proof if the unilateral large-value debts have exceeded the needs of daily life of the family.This article may provide a useful reference value for the trial of spouse debt disputes in terms of allocation of burden of proof and balance of the interests of the parties. |
