Ningbo in these cases the court will generally be sentenced to leave

“He’s been unfaithful—why won’t the court grant the divorce?” “This is already my second lawsuit—why do I still have to wait?” These are the two most common questions we hear in divorce consultations. Whether a divorce can be granted hinges not on whose grievances are greater or how many times a lawsuit has been filed, but on whether the facts meet any of the statutory grounds explicitly listed in Article 1,079 of the Civil Code. The conclusion begins with the following: as long as the evidence is solid and mediation is invalid in cases such as "bigamy or cohabitation with others, domestic violence, gambling and drug abuse, etc., such as" bigamy or cohabitation with others, domestic violence, gambling and drug abuse, etc., and separation for two years due to emotional discord "; the court shall grant divorce if the divorce is not convicted for the first time and the divorce is filed again after the judgment. Comparing your own circumstances with the statutory criteria item by item and building a solid chain of evidence around those criteria is far more effective than repeatedly expressing your emotions.

1. The statutory threshold for divorce: the four statutory circumstances outlined in Article 1079 of the Civil Code.

Article 1079, paragraph 2 of the Civil Code provides: “When hearing divorce cases, the people’s courts shall conduct mediation; if the marital relationship has indeed broken down and mediation fails, a divorce shall be granted.” "(IV) lists the four statutory circumstances under which divorce shall be granted if mediation fails: (I) bigamy or cohabitation with another person; (II) domestic violence or abuse and abandonment of family members; (III) persistent failure to correct vices such as gambling and drug addiction; (IV) separation due to incompatibility for a full two years. Fifth Supplementary Provision: If, after a people’s court has ruled against granting a divorce, the parties have lived separately for another full year, and one party subsequently files for divorce again, the divorce shall be granted."

Dismantling the essentials, we can find that the judgment of divorce is the combination of the three elements of "legal situation + invalid mediation + emotional breakdown": the establishment of the situation is the premise, the invalid mediation is the procedural requirement, and the two are complete, that is, the court "should" judge the divorce instead of "can" judge the divorce. Based on the general practices reflected in publicly available judgments from Ningbo courts, family cases generally prioritize mediation, with judges typically organizing multiple mediation sessions both before litigation and during trial. However, once the statutory requirements are clearly met and evidence is sufficiently substantiated, and mediation has genuinely proven ineffective, the court will not indefinitely delay rendering a decision simply because one party is stalling.

2. Scenario 1: Bigamy or cohabitation with another person

Bigamy encompasses both legal marriage (entering into a marriage registration with a third party, including obtaining registration through deception) and de facto marriage (cohabiting with a third party under the guise of a marital relationship and presenting oneself to others as husband and wife). To prove a legal marriage, it is necessary to obtain the other party’s marriage registration certificate with a third person; to prove a de facto marriage, evidence must be assembled in the form of a chain of evidence, including testimony from neighbors, visual records of cohabitation, and entries in children’s birth certificates.

The threshold for “cohabitation with another person” is higher; it refers to a heterosexual individual living together with someone outside of the marriage, not as husband and wife, in a continuous and stable manner. Occasional improper relationships do not constitute cohabitation. In practice, ordinary adultery and cohabitation are often conflated: mere suggestive chat records are usually insufficient to establish such conduct. However, if the parties can provide a lease agreement, property access records, photographs documenting long-term cohabitation, and witness testimony that together form a complete chain of evidence, courts will typically grant a divorce. Note: Even if the conduct does not constitute “cohabitation” due to insufficient evidence, persistent adultery may still be considered, in conjunction with other factors, as “other circumstances leading to the breakdown of the marital relationship” and as grounds for damages under Article 1091, paragraph 5, of the Civil Code (“other serious misconduct”).

3. Scenario 2: Domestic violence, abuse, and abandonment

In cases of domestic violence or abuse, or abandonment of family members, if mediation fails, divorce shall be granted. Domestic violence here is not limited to beatings: According to Article 2 of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law, physical and mental violations committed by family members by beating, binding, maiming, restricting personal freedom, and frequent verbal abuse and intimidation are all Domestic violence-mental violations such as frequent verbal abuse and intimidation are also included in the scope of protection. The evidence includes: police reports and records of emergency response, photographs of injuries, hospital diagnostic certificates, forensic injury assessment opinions, minutes of mediation conducted by the Women’s Federation or community authorities, and orders for personal protection, among others.

In the Ningbo area, family courts have established mechanisms for family investigators and psychological counseling: In cases involving domestic violence, the court may commission family investigators to conduct on-site visits and verify the facts, and, when necessary, introduce psychological counseling to both protect the victim and clarify the circumstances. Such mechanisms make the determination of domestic violence more reliant on objective evidence rather than on one-sided accounts. The victim of domestic violence may also, pursuant to Article 23 of the Anti-Domestic Violence Law, apply to the court for a personal protection order without first filing a divorce lawsuit.

4. Scenario 3: Repeatedly failing to correct bad habits such as gambling and drug use.

The key lies in the phrase “repeatedly failing to mend one’s ways”—occasional participation in gambling or even having already ceased is usually insufficient; it must be demonstrated that, despite admonishment, punishment, and rehabilitation efforts, the behavior recurs, thereby seriously disrupting the marital life. Collectible evidence includes: administrative penalty decisions issued by public security organs, records of compulsory isolation for drug or gambling addiction, certificates from neighborhood (village) committees or relatives, proof of repeated borrowing and high-interest loans, and bank transaction records related to gambling funds. These pieces of evidence collectively point to “persistent bad habits and ineffective rehabilitation,” which provides stronger support for a divorce claim than a single isolated incident; written or audio records of repeated admonishments from family members can further substantiate the facts.

5. Scenario Four: Having lived apart for two years due to incompatibility of temperament.

Both qualifying conditions must be met: first, the separation must be “due to incompatibility of temperament”; separations arising from objective reasons such as work or study do not qualify. Second, the two-year period must be calculated continuously; any brief resumption of cohabitation during this time will interrupt the calculation. Common evidence of separation includes: a separate rental agreement, utility payment records, witness testimony confirming one party’s move-out, chat logs in which both parties acknowledge the separation, and changes to household registration or residence registration. It is best for both parties to confirm the reasons for separation in writing to avoid the other party later claiming that the separation was due to objective circumstances. During the period of separation, it is advisable to refrain from any actions—such as joint expenditures, shared travel, or cohabitation—that could be misinterpreted as a resumption of cohabitation.

6. The path after the first divorce request is denied: After living separately for one full year, filing again should result in a divorce being granted.

After the first divorce lawsuit is dismissed, the plaintiff generally must wait six months before filing again (Article 127, Item 7 of the Civil Procedure Law: if there are no new circumstances or new grounds, a subsequent lawsuit filed within six months will not be accepted). However, Article 1,079, paragraph 5, of the Civil Code provides a preferable avenue: if, after a judgment denying divorce, the parties have lived separately for one full year and one party files suit again, the court shall grant the divorce—this provision offers predictable prospects to the party whose initial divorce petition was denied. The key is to separate immediately after the court’s decision and keep a record of it; do not give up collecting evidence just because you were not granted a divorce on the first attempt. If the initial lawsuit is dismissed or treated as withdrawn, the provision stating that “one year of separation shall be grounds for divorce” does not apply; the case shall still be reviewed based on the standard of irretrievable breakdown of the marital relationship.

7. Five practical tips for organizing evidence

Statutory grounds are the “entry ticket”; the chain of evidence is the decisive factor. Five key points directly determine the effectiveness of proof presentation:

1. Classify the evidence according to the situation instead of time: number the evidence according to the "bigamy cohabitation/domestic violence/vice/separation/other fault" group, arrange the evidence according to the time inside each group, and indicate the legal requirements of each evidence in the evidence catalogue to facilitate the judge to locate quickly.
2. Objective evidence takes precedence over subjective statements: contemporaneous objective materials such as police reports, administrative penalty decisions, hospital diagnoses, lease agreements, payment records, and bank statements carry far greater probative value than post‑facto written explanations or emotionally charged accounts; chat logs and audio‑video recordings must be preserved in their original format.
3. Methods for preserving electronic evidence: For WeChat chat logs and transfer records, it is recommended to use “screen recording combined with presentation of the original” or notarization; relying solely on screenshots may raise doubts about their integrity. Text messages containing domestic violence threats or gambling-related debt collection are also subject to the same procedure: first, back up the messages; then, notarize them; and finally, file a lawsuit.
4. the boundary of recording evidence collection: recording evidence collection is generally not illegal in the scene of common life, but it can not be obtained by illegal means such as eavesdropping and invading others' privacy space, and illegal evidence may be excluded; the recording content should be able to prove the key facts of "the other party's self-admission" (such as admitting domestic violence and admitting living with others).
5. the selection and arrangement of witnesses: the testimony of neighbors, relatives, property, village (neighborhood) committee staff can strengthen the objective evidence, the witness must be able to appear in court to accept the question, only written testimony is weak; involved in domestic violence, women's federation, community mediation records and alarm receipt is the most secure third party to leave traces.

8. The avenues of redress for second-instance review and retrial

If divorce is not allowed in the judgment of first instance, in addition to "litigating after one year of separation", there are also procedural remedies that need to be understood: ① If you are not satisfied with the judgment of first instance, you can appeal within 15 days from the date of delivery of the judgment. The second instance can re-examine the emotional breakdown and evidence. If there is new evidence or the first instance finds that the divorce is obviously inappropriate, you can sue again after adding new evidence and new facts (there is no six-month limit for new circumstances and new reasons), or take the path of "separation for one year"; ③ The threshold for applying for retrial of an effective judgment is relatively high, and it is usually necessary to prove that the original judgment has a legal retrial cause, and the retrial of divorce cases does not suspend the effect of the change of identity relationship. In practice, most parties who were not granted a divorce on their first attempt choose to strengthen their evidence and file suit again, rather than enduring the lengthy process of applying for a retrial.

9. Joint assertion of claims for damages, property division, and preservation measures

Beyond the divorce judgment, the non‑faulting party must assert all of its substantive rights in a single lawsuit; three steps are indispensable:

1. The claim for compensation shall be put forward together when the lawsuit is filed: the compensation for divorce damage shall be claimed together in the divorce lawsuit -- if the party without fault acts as the plaintiff, it shall be put forward simultaneously in the divorce lawsuit; if the defendant fails to file the claim in the defense, it may sue separately within one year after the divorce; if the compensation is claimed separately after the divorce by agreement, according to the interpretation, the (I) of Article 89 should be filed within one year after the divorce registration procedures are completed (if the procedure is overdue, the procedural relief will be lost. In practice, the court will strictly review the "one year"). The complaint sets forth the amount of damages, the legal basis (the relevant provision of Article 1091), and the supporting evidence, item by item.
2. Property division claim: “give consideration to the party at no fault”: Pursuant to Article 1087, when seeking a smaller share of the marital property for the party at fault, present the claim for compensation and the claim for division separately and calculate them independently, so as to avoid the judge perceiving these as duplicate claims and consequently reducing the overall award.
3. Simultaneous Application for Property Preservation: If you discover that the other party is transferring deposits, selling real estate, or taking out insurance policies on short notice, file a simultaneous application for seizure and freezing of assets when filing the lawsuit to prevent a situation where “even if you win the case, enforcement is still impossible.” A security deposit is required for the preservation of evidence (either an insurance-based security or a cash deposit), and the scope of the preservation shall be limited to the claims asserted in the lawsuit. The courts in Ningbo tend to grant preservation applications in cases involving domestic violence or the transfer of assets at a relatively high rate.

It should be noted: Evidence in damage compensation cases cannot be based on mere speculation. The public judgment on the divorce dispute between Chang and Meng in Jiangbei Court in Ningbo shows that the defendant claimed that the plaintiff cheated on the track and transferred the property, but was not accepted due to insufficient evidence-the non-fault party's claim for compensation and multi-division of property must be based on cross-examined evidence. Alarm records, administrative penalties, notarial certificates and bank records are indispensable, and "doubt" must not be written into the claim.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

Does adultery automatically result in a divorce?

Not necessarily. Only cohabitation with another person that is continuous and stable will directly fall within the statutory circumstances; in cases of ordinary adultery, whether it constitutes “other circumstances leading to the breakdown of the marital relationship” must be determined in light of the specific facts and circumstances, and it may also serve as grounds for the faultless party to claim damages and a larger share of the marital property. Evidence such as chat records, hotel check-in records, and footage of cohabitation must be presented in a coherent chain.

How can I prove that we have been separated for two years? What happens if we cohabited during the separation?

A rental agreement, utility payment receipts, witness testimony, and written confirmations can all serve as proof. A brief resumption of cohabitation during the period of separation will reset the two-year countdown; therefore, it is essential to keep records to demonstrate the continuity of the separation.

The first divorce lawsuit was dismissed—how long must I wait before filing again?

After a judgment denying divorce, if there are no new facts or grounds, a subsequent lawsuit filed within six months will not be accepted (Article 127, Paragraph 7 of the Civil Procedure Law); the most reliable approach is to wait one year after the judgment and then file suit again, at which point the court should grant the divorce. Where new evidence or new facts exist (such as a recurrence of domestic violence or the continued state of separation), the six-month limitation shall not apply.

If the other party doesn’t agree to the divorce, does that mean a divorce is impossible?

No. Divorce does not require the consent of the other party; as long as the statutory grounds are met, the marital relationship has indeed broken down, and mediation has failed, the court shall grant the divorce. The other party’s disagreement only affects the pace of the proceedings (e.g., mediation, service of process, and the time required for presenting evidence).

The first-instance court did not grant the divorce—would an appeal be effective?

If the first-instance court fails to recognize a statutory circumstance due to insufficient evidence, but new and compelling evidence (such as police reports or proof of separation) can be submitted during the appeal stage, the second-instance court may reverse the original judgment; however, if only the original evidence is reiterated, the likelihood of a reversal is low. A more common option is to strengthen the evidence and file the lawsuit again.

XI. Practical Insights from a Lawyer

If you want a divorce to be granted on the very first lawsuit, it’s not by repeatedly recounting how wronged you feel, but by precisely matching the specific facts with the legally prescribed grounds. Bigamy or cohabitation with another person, domestic violence, persistent refusal to reform despite repeated admonishments regarding gambling or drug use, and separation for two full years due to incompatibility of temperament—these are facts that must be supported by evidence, not mere expressions of emotion. When thinking of divorce, it should be spread out simultaneously: cheating chat records and transfers, domestic violence alarm receipts and medical records, gambling and drug abuse punishment or treatment materials, separated rental contracts and water and electricity bills-it is much more useful to do a solid job around one of them than to list all the shortcomings of the other party.

Separation is a card that many people tend to overlook—and also the one they’re most likely to mishandle. If you’re living separately but still frequently cohabiting and occasionally “trying to reconcile,” the continuity is disrupted, and all the time you’ve spent building distance may be erased. After deciding to live separately, you must be able to provide evidence that your living arrangements, expenses, and daily interactions are indeed separate, including a lease agreement for a rental property in your own name and receipts for payments made independently. If the first prosecution is not divorced, don't get stuck in the mood of "why not divorce", but keep the separation state and fixed evidence to pave the way for another prosecution after the separation takes effect for one year. At this time, the assurance of divorce will be significantly improved, and the other party's delay strategy will gradually lose its meaning.

While advocating the judgment of divorce, don't separate the damages, property division and preservation. If the other party has cheated or committed domestic violence, the focus of the damage is often not only on "whether it can leave", but also on whether more property and damages can fall to the ground together. Found that the other party has the transfer of signs, as soon as possible to apply for property preservation, to avoid winning the lawsuit but can not catch up with the money. If these items are linked together, it is more cost-effective to solve more problems in one lawsuit than just staring at a divorce judgment, and it is also less likely to leave behind. It is always right to leave the back hand.

Prosecuting divorce is a project of "situation + evidence", not a competition of "number of times": first judge the fact according to Article 1079 of the Civil Code, then systematically organize the evidence around the situation, form a time line, and submit pre-litigation mediation and filing materials through the mobile micro court or Zhejiang court network. Involving domestic violence, the first time to report to the police for medical treatment and leave traces; Involving separation to retain rental housing and payment vouchers; For the first time, the immediate separation and continuous leaving of marks will pave the way for another lawsuit after one year.

There is a "window period" for evidence collection, which is difficult to make up for: domestic violence should be reported to the police on the spot and a receipt should be obtained, and medical treatment should be left in time. Injury identification should be applied before the injury is stable. The separation should continue to leave marks from the date of removal, and do not "softhearted" halfway to resume common life. Electronic evidence (chat, transfer) should be exported and fixed before the other party cancels the account and changes the mobile phone. If part of the evidence is still being retrieved at the time of the prosecution, the case can be filed before applying for an investigation order or a court investigation, and it is not necessary to wait for the "perfect evidence" to start-the lawsuit itself can force the other party to explain the situation through cross-examination of evidence, and the facts admitted by the other party in the mediation record and the trial statement also have probative value. The "evidence that can be obtained" and "evidence that is being obtained" are listed separately, and the compensation is made up at the same time, which is a more pragmatic rhythm in handling cases of judgment.