How to Prevent Marital Property Agreement from Revocation in Ningbo

Mr. Li signed a marital property agreement with his wife, agreeing that a set of real estate purchased after marriage should be owned by Mr. Li personally. Several years later, the wife reneged on her agreement, arguing that it was grossly unfair and seeking to have it rescinded. Mr. Li wants to know: Can the signed agreement be kept? The conclusion is: marital property agreement is protected by law as long as the content is legal, the meaning is true and both parties are voluntary; but to prevent it from being revoked, it must be "fair and reasonable in content, voluntary and flawless, procedural norms", and try to register or notarize the change of property rights. The agreement is not signed once and for all-it is obviously unfair and coerced by fraud. It can be revoked according to law. The homework to strengthen the effectiveness of the agreement should be done before and after signing.

1. Legal Basis and Foundation of Validity

The source of validity of the marital property agreement is Article 1065 of the the People's Republic of China Civil Code: Both men and women may agree that the property acquired during the existence of the marriage relationship and the premarital property shall be owned by themselves, jointly or partially owned by themselves or partially jointly owned by themselves; the agreement shall be in written form; the agreement between husband and wife on the property acquired during the existence of the marriage relationship and the premarital property shall be legally binding on both parties.

This means that there are three basic requirements for the marital property agreement: first, the subject is qualified-the husband and wife make it by themselves, and no other person can dispose of the other party's property rights and interests; second, the formal requirements-must be in written form, and the oral agreement does not have the effect of property ownership change; third, the content is legal-must not violate the mandatory provisions of the law, and must not violate public order and good customs. To meet these three items, the agreement is valid in principle and both parties should abide by it. However, the "revocation risk" comes from the flaw in the expression of intention-Article 150 of the Civil Code stipulates that the coerced party has the right to request revocation of civil legal acts committed by one party by coercion against the other party's true intention. Article 151 stipulates that one party takes advantage of the other party's situation of being in a state of crisis and lacking judgment, if it is unfair at the time of the establishment of a civil juristic act, the injured party has the right to request revocation; Articles 148 and 149 provide for the right of revocation in the case of fraud.

2. Specific breakdown of revocable circumstances

In practice, agreements regarding marital property are typically revoked in the following circumstances; each should be carefully reviewed to implement preventive measures:

1. Obvious unfairness: one party makes use of the other party's crisis (such as the other party's illness, pregnancy and childbirth, economic constraints) or lack of judgment ability, so that the property ownership agreed in the agreement is obviously unbalanced-for example, all the property and deposits after marriage are agreed to belong to one party, and the other party is almost clean out of the house without compensation. The court will consider the source of the property, the contribution, the background of the signing, and whether there is a reasonable consideration to determine whether it is a "clear violation of fairness".
2. Fraud: One party fabricates facts (e.g., concealing significant debts or hiding the truth about an extramarital affair to induce the other party to relinquish property), causing the other party to enter into an agreement based on a mistaken understanding.
3. coercion: to force the other party to sign by exposing privacy, hurting relatives, refusing to pay child support, etc. The party subjected to duress shall exercise the right of rescission within one year from the date on which the coercive act ceases.
4. Malicious collusion to harm others' interests: it is actually to avoid external debts by "agreeing" to put the common property of husband and wife under the name of one party by agreement. Such agreements are invalid due to their violation of mandatory legal provisions, and the creditor may also, pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Code concerning the creditor’s right of rescission (Articles 538 and 539), request the annulment of the debtor’s gratuitous or low-price disposition of property.

The revocation right has a strict exclusion period: according to Article 152 of the Civil Code, if an agreement is concluded due to coercion, the revocation right shall be exercised within one year from the date of termination of the coercive act; if an agreement is concluded due to fraud or apparent unfairness, the revocation right shall be exercised within one year from the date when the cause of revocation is known or should be known; if the revocation right is not exercised within five years from the date of civil juristic act. In other words, the stability of a contract ultimately hinges on whether the expressions of intent at the time of execution were clear and unambiguous, and whether the statutory period for challenging its validity has expired after execution—this is precisely the institutional mechanism for “preventing revocation.”

3. How to strengthen the validity of the agreement: actions before and after signing

to minimize the risk of revocation, we need to take two steps of "specification before signing + implementation after signing:

Before signing, do four things: first, fully negotiate and leave a record of the process-the formation of the agreement should be real negotiation, chat records and WeChat communication can prove voluntary; second, the content is fair and reasonable-the property tilt should specify the background, reason and consideration (if one party undertakes more housework, the proportion of capital contribution is larger, and the other party gets the corresponding compensation arrangement), avoid "one-sided" imbalance clauses; The third is to ensure that both parties have the ability to judge-not to sign a contract in a state of serious illness, puerperium, emotional loss of control, etc. The fourth is to state the purpose and background of the agreement, indicating that "this agreement is reached through voluntary negotiation between both parties and each party has fully understood the legal consequences". If necessary, both parties are requested to confirm that there is no fraud and coercion. After the signing of

, implement two actions as soon as possible: firstly, handle the registration of property change-if the property ownership change is involved, go to the real estate registration agency to handle the transfer or notation in time, and make the real right status consistent with the agreement after the registration is completed, and the publicity effect greatly reduces the space of dispute; secondly, handle notarization-the notary will verify the true meaning of both parties and inform the legal consequences. The notarization documents have strong probative power, in the future, even if one party goes back on its word and claims to be "deceived and coerced", it will be difficult to be accepted. It should be noted that notarization is "reinforcement" rather than "safe deposit box"-if the content is illegal or there is malicious collusion to evade debts, even if it is notarized, it may still be found invalid, and notarization only makes it more difficult to overturn the authenticity of the meaning.

4. Boundary Conditions and Invalid Red Lines

The marital property agreement is not a universal tool, and the following red lines cannot be touched: firstly, it is not allowed to violate the mandatory provisions of the law, such as the agreement to evade taxes and evade execution; secondly, it is not allowed to evade debts by agreement-the "clean-up and out-of-house" agreement for evading debts may be effective internally, but it cannot resist creditors externally and may be revoked by creditors; thirdly, for example, the provisions that restrict the freedom of divorce and restrict personal rights, such as "who proposes divorce first" and "divorce shall not fight for custody", are invalid. In addition, if the agreement involving real estate only stays on paper and does not register for a long time, once the real estate is sealed up, executed or one party disposes of it without authorization, the protective effect of the agreement will be greatly reduced-the agreement is the guarantee at the level of creditor's rights, and the registration is the guarantee at the level of real rights.

5. the main points of response when the other party claims to withdraw

Once the other party seeks to rescind the agreement on the grounds of obvious unfairness, fraud, or coercion, the party in compliance may mount a defense on three levels:

First, a procedural defense—verify whether the right of rescission is still within the prescriptive period. The period provided for in article 152 of the Civil Code is very short: one year from the date of termination of the coercive act in the case of coercion; one year from the date on which the fraudulent or unjust person knew or should have known the cause of the revocation; and the right of revocation is extinguished if it exceeds five years from the date of the act. If the other party has been more than one year since the signing of the contract at the time of the lawsuit (and he admits that he has already known about it), he may claim that the right of revocation has been eliminated and the court will reject his request.

Second, the substantive defense-to prove that the content of the agreement is fair and the meaning is true. Focus on "whether there is reasonable consideration and background": whether the agreement states the reasons for consideration (housework, contribution, debt commitment, etc.); Whether both parties have sufficient judgment ability when signing the contract; Whether there are records to check in the negotiation process (chat records, witnesses, draft version); Whether the content of the agreement is seriously out of balance-the court's judgment is obviously unfair, if the agreement states the background and consideration, the identification space of the imbalance will be greatly reduced.

thirdly, the defense of performance status-after the signing of the agreement, both parties perform according to the agreement for a long time (registration has been done, no objection has been raised for many years, and the property is managed according to the agreement on a daily basis), and the fact of performance itself is the strong evidence of "the true expression of intention", which can resist the regret afterwards.

At the same time, it prompts the counterproductive thinking of the contract-keeping party: if the other party does not really want to revoke, but delays the divorce or bargains through the "lawsuit of revocation", it can consider actively fixing the dispute of agreement validity in divorce proceedings, and apply to the court to deal with the property ownership in divorce cases; if the agreement has been notarized, the notarized document can be directly submitted as the core evidence, and the burden of proof is obviously reduced. Leaving a record upon signing, fulfilling the agreement after it is signed, and promptly initiating legal proceedings in the event of a dispute—these are the three key steps to safeguarding the validity of a contract.

6. a list of terms regulating the marital property agreement

Put the abstract requirements on paper. A standard marital property agreement usually contains eight clauses, which can be checked one by one when drafting: ① The title and the parties-specify the "marital property agreement" and the names, ID numbers and marriage registration information of both parties; ② The background clause-specify the reason for signing (based on voluntary negotiation, to clarify the property ownership), indicating that there is no fraudulent coercion, this is the first line of defense against the "revocation lawsuit"; ③ The subject property information-location, title certificate number, registered obligee, purchase price and source; ④ The attribution agreement-it is clear that "the property belongs to the individual of xx party and does not belong to the joint property of husband and wife";⑤ Supporting arrangements-who will continue to repay the loan, how to settle the decoration contribution, property utilities and other expenses, avoid "agreeing on rights and omission of obligations";⑥ Performance arrangement-agree on the time and cost for registration of property rights change, stating that "one party shall cooperate in the registration and bear the liability for breach of contract if it does not cooperate";⑦ Dispute resolution and entry into force-effective from the date of signature by both parties, dispute negotiation fails to be handled by the competent court; ⑧ Signing page-both parties autograph and date, preferably one copy each.

The details in the drafting remind: the real estate information must be completely consistent with the title certificate (the location and the certificate number are exactly the same), otherwise it may be returned when registering; the transfer of the real estate with unsettled loan needs to obtain the bank's consent or settle the loan first, and this obstacle should be predicted in the agreement; if it involves multiple sets of real estate, it should be listed one by one, instead of using the general expressions such as "all the above real estate; if a party exchanges an agreement for a bank loan or involves the rights and interests of a third party, the connection between registration and publicity must also be considered. The more specific the provisions, the less room there is for them to be revoked later, and the fewer implementation hurdles they will face—the essence of “anti-revocation” begins with the very first line of drafting.

7. Frequently Asked Questions

Is the marital property agreement not notarized and valid?

Valid. Article 1065 of the Civil Code only requires written form, and notarization is not a requirement for entry into force. The purpose of notarization is to strengthen the evidentiary force and reduce future disputes over whether a matter was entered into voluntarily. The fees are relatively low, and it is advisable to have such arrangements notarized when they involve substantial real estate.

The agreement stipulates that the property belongs to one party but has not transferred the ownership. Can the other party cancel it if he goes back on his word?

The agreement is binding on both parties; a change of heart does not constitute grounds for its cancellation. Failure to handle the transfer only affects the completion of the change of property rights and does not affect the validity of the agreement itself. However, the real risk of non-transfer is that when the property is still registered in the name of the other party, it may be mortgaged, sold or seized by creditors without authorization, and it is necessary to register the change as soon as possible.

The marital agreement stipulates that "whoever cheats will leave the house clean", is it effective?

This kind of loyalty agreement belongs to conditional property agreement in nature, and its effectiveness is controversial in practice: if the content does not restrict personal freedom and only stipulates the property consequences of the wrong party, some courts recognize its compensatory effectiveness; if it is expressed as restrictive clauses such as "divorce is not allowed to divide property", it may be considered invalid because of restricting the freedom of divorce. Loyalty agreements for large property consequences are recommended to be evaluated separately and then signed.

The other party said that he was forced to sign the agreement, can it be revoked?

shall be raised and bear the burden of proof within the statutory exorcment period: the coerced person shall prove the fact of coercion and not more than one year from the date of termination of the coercion, and the fraudulent or unjust person shall claim within one year from the date of knowledge or should have known, and not more than five years from the date of occurrence of the act. When signing an agreement, retaining records of negotiations, videos, and WeChat communications can effectively safeguard against such claims.

Practical experience of 8. lawyers

The parties take the already signed marital property agreement and ask "can you keep it". The answer is usually: whether you can keep it depends on how you signed it at the beginning. Case-handling experience shows that the marital property agreement is binding on both parties as long as the content is legal, the meaning is true, and both parties are willing. However, the agreement is not signed once and for all-if the agreement is obviously unfair, or if one party is signed by fraud or coercion, it may be revoked according to law. Therefore, the homework of strengthening the effectiveness of the agreement should be done before and after signing, instead of waiting for the other party to go back on its word and go to court to remedy it. A little caution beforehand can often save a lot of trouble afterwards.

When it comes to specific actions, three points should be grasped before signing: the content should be fair and reasonable as far as possible, so as to avoid the obvious unfairness of one party with almost nothing; the meaning should be true and voluntary, and it should not be swayed by fraud and coercion; the written agreement should be adopted in form, with clear terms and clear directions, leaving no vague space. What can be done after signing is equally important-to be able to register the change of property rights as soon as possible, so that the agreed result will fall on the ownership registration; If conditions permit, notarize the agreement or retain evidence of the signing process so that it can prove voluntary and true in the future. The more standardized the procedures are, the less room there will be for them to be revoked in the future.

If the other party has raised a claim for revocation, the response should focus on positively proving that the agreement is voluntary and reasonable. In practice, it can be prepared in several directions: the background and course of the agreement at the time of signing, whether the parties have consulted each other, whether the terms are generally equivalent, and whether they have been performed in accordance with the contract afterwards, etc., with evidence to show that this is not an agreement that has been coerced or deceived.At the same time, it is necessary to keep the boundary red line-the agreement must not violate the mandatory provisions of the law, and must not maliciously harm the interests of creditors or third parties, otherwise it will be difficult to maintain even if the procedure is standardized. Only by thinking and doing these things first can the agreement really stand firm.

To prevent the marital real estate agreement from being revoked, the idea can be summarized as "making the agreement impeccable": fair and reasonable in content, clear background and consideration; The meaning is true and voluntary, and there are process records to check. The procedure is signed in writing, registered as soon as possible, and can be notarized. There is no debt evasion or restriction of personal rights on the border. At the same time, it should be understood that the stability of the agreement is "prevented" rather than "signed"-the degree of standardization at the time of signing determines the difficulty of being revoked in the future, and the degree of implementation of registration and notarization after signing determines the degree of realization of rights and interests. For Ningbo families, the real estate value is high, the registration process is convenient, the "negotiation mark, content balance, timely transfer, discretion notarization" four things in place, the risk of the agreement will be revoked to a minimum.