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.
I. Purpose of this Article
This article deals with the legal consequences of the annulment or annulment of a marriage.
II. Evolution of the Provisions
Neither the 1950 Marriage Law nor the 1980 Marriage Law of the mainland have any provisions on invalid marriage. Article 12 of the former Marriage Law, as amended in 2001, stipulates: "A marriage that is void or annulled shall be void ab initio. 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 of the parties, and if the agreement is not reached, the people's court shall make a judgment in accordance with the principle of taking care of the innocent party. The disposition of property that results in an invalid marriage due to bigamy must not infringe upon the property rights and interests of the parties to a lawful marriage. For children born to the parties, the provisions of this Law on parents and children shall apply. Paragraph 1 of this article of the Civil Code retains the content of Article 12 of the original Marriage Law, as amended in 2001, but amends "invalid ab initio" to "not legally binding ab initio", which is clearer;
3. Interpretation of Provisions
This article regulates the consequences of nullity or annulment of marriage.
If a marriage is confirmed to be invalid or annulled, the direct legal consequence is that the illegal marital relationship between the parties is retroactively extinguished, that is, it is not legally binding from the beginning. The logic of annulment of a marriage is the same as that of a marriage never married, and the annulment of an invalid and voidable marriage by the court, at least on the face of it, can be traced back to the time when the marriage was established, from which the following legal consequences arise.
(1) Legal consequences for the parties. The legal consequence of the annulment of a marriage and the annulment of a marriage for the parties is that the marriage relationship is null and void ab initio. It is only when an invalid or annulled marriage is declared null and void or revoked in accordance with the law that the marriage is not protected by law from the beginning, so the effect of the annulment or annulment of the marriage is retroactive, and it does not have the effect of marriage from the beginning of the marriage relationship, and the parties do not have the rights and obligations of husband and wife, do not enjoy spousal rights to each other, and do not enjoy spousal rights ab initio.
and (2) legal consequences for the child. If a marriage is null and void or annulled, the marriage is deemed to be void ab initio, but children born to parents in an invalid or voidable marriage are not considered to have been born out of wedlock. This is done in order to protect the interests of the children. After a marriage is declared null and void or revoked, the parties must properly handle the issue of raising and educating the children; if the parties cannot reach an agreement on the maintenance and education of the children, the court shall make a judgment in accordance with law.
and (3) legal consequences for property. Since an invalid marriage does not have the legal effect of marriage, the relevant provisions of the marital property system cannot be applied in principle. The property acquired during the period of cohabitation shall be disposed of by agreement of the parties, and if the agreement is not reached, the court shall make a judgment on the basis of the principle of taking care of the innocent party. If the property during the period of cohabitation has been formed in common ownership, it shall be disposed of in accordance with the general rule of common ownership, and if it is not in common ownership, it shall be disposed of in accordance with the principle that the respective property belongs to the individual; and if the nature of the ownership of the property cannot be ascertained, it shall be disposed of in common ownership.
(4) The property disposal of an invalid marriage caused by bigamy shall protect the rights and interests of the parties to the lawful marriage relationship, handle it properly, and shall not infringe upon the property rights and interests of the parties to the lawful marriage.
(5) If the marriage is invalid or annulled, the innocent party has the right to file a lawsuit with the court for damages.
4. Cases
Li v. Ren, a dispute over the annulment of marriage
Facts: Li and Ren are cousins, and the two parties went through the marriage registration process after the marriage ceremony. During the period of living together, after Li and Ren each applied for credit cards, they handed over their credit cards to Li's cousin Li Jia and told him the password. Li Jia used the credit cards of both parties to overdraft Li's 2,000 yuan and Ren's 70,530.66 yuan. After that, Li filed a lawsuit with the court, requesting that the marriage between the two parties be confirmed as invalid and that the joint property be divided. The court of first instance held that Li and Ren were cousins, and the marriage between the two parties was a circumstance prohibited by law, so it was invalid. The debts caused by Li Jia's overdraft of Ren's credit card are joint debts of the husband and wife and should be borne jointly. Li was dissatisfied with the first-instance judgment and appealed. The court of second instance held that the marriage between Li and Ren was invalid. Li Jia's overdraft occurred during the period when Ren and Li lived together, and both parties should repay it together.
5. Analysis:
According to Article 12 of the Marriage Law on the legal consequences of a marriage being annulled or invalidated, Li has the right to request the division of the property obtained during the period of cohabitation because his marriage with Ren is invalid. If the parties have made an agreement on the property of the creditor's rights and debts incurred by the parties to an invalid or annulled marriage during the period of cohabitation, as long as such agreement meets the requirements for the validity of a civil juristic act, the division of property shall be handled in accordance with the agreement; if there is no agreement, it shall be in accordance with the Interpretation (1) of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China Article 15 stipulates that the claims and debts arising during the period of cohabitation of the parties shall be treated as joint ownership, unless there is evidence to prove that they are owned by one of the parties. Li and Ren are cousins, and the marriage between the two parties is invalid. Li and Ren had no agreement on the creditor's rights and debts during their living together, so they could not be handled in accordance with the agreement, and there was no evidence to prove that Li Jia's overdraft was the debt of any person, so the debt of 70,530.66 yuan should be handled as a joint ownership in accordance with the provisions of the above-mentioned judicial interpretation. Article 1054 of the Civil Code inherits and develops the content of Article 12 of the Marriage Law, according to which if this case occurs after the Civil Code takes effect, the debts incurred by Li and Ren during their cohabitation shall be treated as joint debts.