Recently, the Erqi District Court of Zhengzhou City encountered a bizarre lawsuit, Ms. Zhang and Ms. Pei went to court, and the reason was that they had a marriage relationship with the same man, Mr. Cao, at the same time. Ms. Zhang claimed that she and Mr. Cao were married and that they had a son, and Ms. Pei also claimed that she and Mr. Cao were legally married and had a daughter.
Moreover, Ms. Zhang and Ms. Pei both took out their marriage certificates with Mr. Cao! Why was Mr. Cao able to apply for two marriage certificates? Is his marriage registration with Ms. Zhang and Ms. Pei valid? Can the children born to Mr. Cao and the two women enjoy the rights and interests of legitimate children?
Basic facts of the case
Mr. Cao, originally from Mengcheng County, Anhui Province, registered his marriage with Ms. Zhang at the Civil Affairs Bureau of Mengcheng County, Anhui Province in June 2003 and they have an adult son.
Because the marriage registration was not connected across provinces, Mr. Cao took advantage of this loophole and registered his marriage with Ms. Pei at the Civil Affairs Bureau of Zhengzhou Erqi District in June 2008, and the two parties gave birth to a daughter, Cao Xiaojie (pseudonym), in September 2008.
In November 2008, Mr. Cao and Ms. Pei purchased a commercial house located in Erqi District, Zhengzhou City, paid a down payment of nearly 90,000 yuan, and used Ms. Pei's provident fund to apply for a mortgage loan of 350,000 yuan for the remaining house payment. In February 2011, Ms. Pei obtained the title registration certificate of the house. In February 2017, Ms. Pei and Mr. Cao purchased another house, contributing more than 290,000 yuan in full.
In June 2017, Mr. Cao and Ms. Pei signed a "divorce agreement" stipulating the ownership of the two properties, with the first property owned by the Lady and the remaining loan repaid by the Woman, and the second property owned by the Husband. It was also agreed that Mr. Cao would enjoy a debt of 200,000 yuan as Cao Xiaojie's child support. After the agreement was signed, Mr. Cao and Ms. Pei registered their "divorce" at the Civil Affairs Bureau of Erqi District.
Mr. Cao passed away in June 2020. In August 2023, Ms. Zhang and her son filed a lawsuit with the court, arguing that Ms. Pei and Mr. Cao were living together illegally, that the property and creditor's rights involved in the case belonged to Ms. Zhang and Mr. Cao, and that Mr. Cao had violated his legitimate rights and interests by disposing of the family's common property before his death, and requested that the agreement on the real estate and creditor's rights in the divorce agreement between Mr. Cao and Ms. Pei be confirmed invalid and the property should be returned.
Ms. Pei argued that she and Mr. Cao were not living together illegally, that the marriage had been registered, that the marriage was legal and valid, that the real estate and creditor's rights belonged to the joint property of her and Mr. Cao, and that the provisions of the divorce agreement were also legal and valid, and that the real estate should not be returned to Ms. Zhang.
Court decision
After the trial, the court held that Mr. Cao's marriage registration with Ms. Pei was invalid and had no legal binding effect from the beginning during the marriage with Ms. Zhang. With regard to the capital contribution of the two properties agreed by Mr. Cao and Ms. Pei in the "divorce agreement" during the "existence of the marital relationship" between the two parties, since Ms. Zhang did not provide evidence to prove Mr. Cao's contribution to the real estate, it should be deemed that Mr. Cao and Ms. Pei contributed equal amounts.
Regarding the first property, it can be determined that Mr. Cao and Ms. Pei each contributed more than 180,000 yuan [(down payment of nearly 90,000 yuan + the principal and interest of the loan repaid during the "marriage" of the two parties from February 2009 to June 2017)÷2]. Since the property was registered in Ms. Pei's name and she repaid the remaining housing loan, it should belong to Ms. Pei, and she should return half of Mr. Cao's capital contribution of more than 180,000 yuan, that is, more than 90,000 yuan, to Ms. Zhang, and the other more than 90,000 yuan is Mr. Cao's claim against Ms. Pei, which can be claimed by his heirs in a separate case; Ms. Pei each contributed more than 140,000 yuan, and the property should belong to Mr. Cao, which belongs to the joint property of Mr. Cao and Ms. Zhang, and after Mr. Cao's death, half of the real estate share belongs to Mr. Cao's estate, and Ms. Pei's capital contribution can be claimed by her heirs in a separate case. Therefore, the court no longer supported Ms. Zhang's request to confirm that Mr. Cao's gift to Ms. Pei was invalid and to return the two properties. With regard to the "divorce agreement" stipulating that "Mr. Cao's creditor's right of more than 20 yuan shall be used as Cao Xiaojie's alimony", in accordance with Article 1054 of the Civil Code, "the provisions of this law on parents and children shall apply to the children born to the parties", Cao Xiaojie enjoys the same rights and interests as children born in wedlock, and Ms. Zhang's request to confirm that the content of the agreement is invalid lacks basis and is not supported by the court.
The court ruled in accordance with the law that the first of the two properties involved in the case belonged to Ms. Pei, and that Ms. Pei should return more than 90,000 yuan to Ms. Zhang, and rejected the other claims of Ms. Zhang and her son. Ms. Zhang and Ms. Pei both accepted the judgment and dismissed the lawsuit.
What the judge said
1. Taking advantage of loopholes in the system to bigamy is invalid and has no legal binding force from the beginning. In this case, Mr. Cao took advantage of the loophole that there was no cross-provincial network in the marriage registration, and first registered his marriage with Ms. Zhang in Anhui Province and then with Ms. Pei in Henan Province.
2. During the period of cohabitation, property shall be disposed of in joint ownership and shall not infringe upon the property rights and interests of the parties to a lawful marriage. Mr. Cao and Ms. Pei each enjoy half of the capital contribution of the real estate involved in the case, half of Mr. Cao's capital contribution is the joint property of Ms. Zhang, and after confirming that one of the real estate is owned by Ms. Pei, Ms. Pei shall return it, and the other half of Mr. Cao's capital contribution shall be Mr. Cao's creditor's right due to Mr. Cao's death, which shall be claimed separately by the heirs.
3. After bigamy is determined to be invalid, children born out of wedlock enjoy the same rights as legitimate children. When Mr. Cao and Ms. Pei "divorced", he agreed that the 200,000 yuan creditor's right he enjoyed would be used as Cao Xiaojie's alimony, and because Cao Xiaojie enjoyed the same rights as legitimate children, Ms. Zhang's request for confirmation of the invalidity of the agreement lacked basis and was not supported by the court.
Links to legal provisions
Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
Article 308:Where the co-owners have not agreed on the immovable or movable property in common to be jointly owned by shares or jointly owned, or the agreement is not clear, it shall be deemed to be jointly owned by shares, except where the co-owners have family relations, etc.
Article 309 Where there is no agreement or the agreement is not clear, the share enjoyed by the co-owners in the immovable or movable property in common shall be determined according to the amount of capital contribution;
Article 1051:Marriage is null and void in any of the following circumstances:
(1) bigamy;
(2) Have a family relationship that prohibits marriage;
(3) They have not reached the legal age for marriage.
Article 1054:An invalid or annulled marriage is not legally binding from the beginning, and the parties do not have the rights and obligations of husband and wife. The property acquired during the period of cohabitation shall be disposed of by agreement between the parties; if the agreement is not reached, the people's court shall make a judgment on the basis of the principle of taking care of the innocent party. The disposition of property in an invalid marriage resulting from bigamy must not infringe upon the property rights and interests of the parties to a lawful marriage. The provisions of this Law on parents and children shall apply to children born to the parties.
If the marriage is invalid or annulled, the innocent party has the right to claim damages.
Article 1071:Children born out of wedlock enjoy the same rights as children born in wedlock, and must not be harmed or discriminated against by any organization or individual.
A biological father or mother who does not directly raise a child born out of wedlock shall bear the maintenance of the minor child or an adult child who is unable to live independently.
[Source: Yufa Sunshine]
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