The family is the cell of society,
It is related to the stability and progress of society,
Family harmony
It is inseparable from the mutual understanding and belief between husband and wife.
however
With the development of economic development and the change of social concepts,
The problem of marital debt continues to emerge.
Whether this problem can be handled well,
It is not only about the property rights and obligations of both spouses
and the benign functioning of the family,
At the same time, it involves the protection of the legitimate interests of creditors.
Today
Xiaobian invited you here
Judges of the Hongkou Court in Shanghai
Interpreting the law by case,
Unveil the mystery of "joint debt determination of husband and wife"
Case review
The husband who borrowed the loan died of illness,
Can I ask my wife for this money?
Open your nature and righteousness, so that you can make friends. In August 2018, at a party, friend Jiang Gui, due to his poor living conditions, opened his mouth to borrow 100,000 yuan from Zhang Kai. Under the witness of other friends, Jiang Gui wrote down an IOU on the spot, and his mutual friend Chen Lin as a guarantor opened and withdrew 100,000 yuan, and then Jiang Gui handed the money to his wife Li Li. A few months later, Jiang Gui borrowed another 20,000 yuan for the same reason.
Unexpectedly, the loan that had not yet been returned was opened but he received the bad news that his friend was seriously ill until he died. People are gone, the money has not been recovered, Jiang Gui's wife Li Li denied the arrears. In a fit of rage, Zhang Kai took his friend's wife to court and demanded the return of the joint debt he and Jiang Gui had before his death of 120,000 yuan.
At the scene of the trial, Li Li said that she was unaware of her husband's debts, her husband was critically ill and hospitalized until his death, Zhang Kai never recovered his debts, but after his death, he took the IOU to collect it, and he did not recognize the handwriting on the IOU and the statement that the money was used for the husband and wife to live together.
The two sides insisted on each other's opinions, and the scene of the trial opened the application for two friends who were at the same meeting at the time to testify on it and reproduce the loan process. His friend Chen Lin said that he witnessed the borrowing of money, and he signed the IOU as a guarantor, and the two sides agreed on the interest and amount of the loan outside the box and then opened it to take back the cash and handed it to Jiang Gui, who then handed it to Li Li. In the later period, Jiang Gui was hospitalized due to illness and it was inconvenient to collect debts. Another witness, Qian Li, also testified Chen Lin's claim.
After trial, the court held that although there were slight discrepancies in the details of the two witnesses, combined with the IOU, the withdrawal time, the withdrawal amount and the witness testimony, the validity of the 120,000 yuan loan contract could be confirmed, and combined with the fact that the loan formation time was during the existence of the husband and wife relationship, the amount was not higher than the normal scope of the debt borne by the family's daily life needs, and the witness testimony that Li Li was present and knew about the loan matter, and did not explicitly oppose the loan matter, it was finally determined that 120,000 yuan was a joint debt of the husband and wife, and Li Li was responsible for repayment.
Civil Code Small Class
Keywords: joint debt of husband and wife
Husbands and wives raise eyebrows, are "teammates" who advance and retreat together, and how to define the joint debts of husband and wife in law has always been a hot topic of discussion. Here, Hong Xiaofa comprehensively compares the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Marital Debt Disputes (hereinafter referred to as the Interpretation of Marital Debts) issued in January 2018 and the Civil Code, which came into effect in January 2021.
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Interpretation of Marital Debts
Article 1064 of the Civil Code
Article 1 Debts incurred by both husband and wife in joint signatures or subsequent recognition by one of the spouses and other expressions of common intent shall be deemed to be joint debts of the husband and wife.
Article 2: Where one of the spouses bears debts incurred by one of the spouses in his or her personal name for the daily needs of the family during the marriage relationship, and the creditor claims rights on the ground that it belongs to the joint debts of the husband and wife, the people's court shall support it.
Debts incurred by both spouses in a joint signature or a posthumous recognition by one of the spouses, as well as debts incurred by one of the spouses for the daily needs of the family in his or her personal name during the existence of the marital relationship, are joint debts of the husband and wife.
Debts incurred by one of the spouses during the marriage relationship in his or her personal name that exceed the daily needs of the family are not joint debts of the spouses;
Article 3 Where during the existence of the marital relationship, one of the spouses has incurred debts in his or her personal name that exceed the daily needs of the family, and the creditor claims rights on the ground that they belong to the joint debts of the husband and wife, the people's court will not support it, unless the creditor can prove that the debts are used for the joint life of the husband and wife, joint production and operation, or based on the common intentions of both husband and wife.
Although the provisions of the above-mentioned legal and judicial interpretations have established relatively clear rules for the determination of joint debts of husband and wife, many factors are often involved, and the needs of family life are increasing day by day, and the determination of joint debts of husband and wife often involves multiple factors, which makes the practice more complicated.
One example from another
After listening to the judge's explanation, it is time to do the question, look at the following question, can you choose the correct answer?
Q
Which of the following circumstances are joint debts of the spouses?
A
Old Li lent money to Xiao Wang and his spouse Xiao Zhang, Xiao Wang and Xiao Zhang wrote down an IOU together to promise joint repayment, and Old Li showed the IOU
B
Old Li lent money to Xiao Wang, Xiao Wang wrote down an IOU, Xiao Zhang also called Old Li including sending emails, sending WeChat and other ways to express that he knew about Xiao Wang's loan and was willing to repay the money with Xiao Wang, Old Li provided phone recordings, email records and WeChat chat records
C
Lao Li lent money to Xiao Wang, the amount of the loan was 2,000 yuan, and the IOU written by Xiao Wang stated that it was used for the daily life of the husband and wife
D
Lao Li borrowed money to Xiao Wang, the amount of the loan was 1 million yuan, and only Xiao Wang signed the IOU
answer
According to article 1064 of the Civil Code, A, B and C are considered to be joint debts of husband and wife without dispute. For scenario D, it needs to be considered comprehensively.
Answer analysis
For option C, whether the IOU states that the loan is used for the couple's common life is not the key, but also to be judged by combining the amount and actual use. 2,000 yuan belongs to the normal range required for the daily life of the family and can be recognized as a joint debt of the husband and wife.
For option D, the debt should be comprehensively judged from various angles such as the use and amount of debt, for example: from the perspective of debt use, the general normal degree of eating and wearing, child support and education funds, elderly maintenance, medical expenses of family members, etc. belong to the typical daily needs of the family, beyond the above category, it may be beyond the daily needs of the family, but the use can not be used as the only identification method, if the debt for the children's education is 1 million yuan, Whether it is still a family life need is debatable, and it should be considered in conjunction with the amount and the specific circumstances of the case.
If the debt does exceed the daily needs of the family, Lao Li needs to prove that there are circumstances listed in article 1064, paragraph 2 of the Civil Code, that is, the debt is used for the husband and wife to live together, jointly produce and operate together, or based on the common intention of the husband and wife, the debt can be recognized as the joint debt of Xiao Wang and his wife, which in turn involves the actual flow of the debt, the specific production and operation situation, the intention of the husband and wife, and other factors.
In addition, whether the debt occurs in a state of separation or is in the divorce proceedings due to the intensification of contradictions such as feelings, whether the creditor is familiar with the debtor, whether there is a possibility of knowing the internal relationship between the husband and wife, the nature of the business activities invested in the debt, and the position and role of the unsolved spouse in the business activities may be closely related to the determination of the joint debt of the husband and wife. There are a variety of factors to be taken into account when determining the joint debt of the husband and wife, and how to achieve a balance between the creditor and the undebted spouse is an issue worthy of deeper exploration.
Source | Shanghai Hongkou Court
Author | Cao Yanmei Liang Congcong Xie Yanwen