When Ningbo divorce property according to which day? Divide the benchmark time point detailed explanation.

In Ningbo, the most frequently asked—and often perplexing—question in divorce litigation is: “Up to what date should our marital assets be calculated? Is it the date of filing the lawsuit, or the date of the court hearing?” Real estate accounts for a large share of family assets in Ningbo, and many couples also hold stocks and engage in stock trading. With housing prices fluctuating by several percentage points annually and market conditions shifting by several points within a week, the choice of which date to use directly determines the size of the asset division. This date is legally referred to as the “reference time for property division”; although it is not explicitly stated in the operative part of the judgment, it determines the ownership of assets worth hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of yuan.

The conclusion is made clear first and divided into three layers: first, legally, the marriage relationship is terminated on the date when the divorce judgment and mediation agreement come into effect (article 1080 of the civil code). before that, both parties were still in the marriage relationship, and the wages and operating income obtained during this period were still the common property of husband and wife in principle (article 1062); Second, in order to avoid unlimited expansion of the scope of trial, usually the end of the debate in the court of first instance is taken as the dividing node, and both parties are allowed to negotiate the deadline or the court may decide. Third, the earlier the node is set and the clearer it is written, the greater the initiative-fixing evidence, applying for preservation, rational negotiation, and being alert to changes should be done before prosecution.

1. why "which day counts" is so important

The premise of property division is to first circle the scope: which is common property and which day. Different scopes lead to vastly different outcomes.

First look at the real estate: a couple bought a house in Ningbo Yinzhou after their marriage in 2020, and their wives sued for divorce in May 2024. If the valuation date is set as the date of filing the lawsuit, the property will be appraised at the prevailing market price for that month; if the case is delayed until the first-instance judgment in September 2025, the valuation date typically falls on the day the court debate concludes, and the appraised value will have already changed with market conditions. For the same property, the assessed value can differ by several hundred thousand yuan depending on the valuation date—the entire difference stems from when the valuation is calculated.

Look at the stock: Mr. Wang held a stock before marriage, never operated after marriage, the market rise is a natural appreciation, to his personal. The nodes are not fixed; with each day the stock price fluctuates, the “appropriate allocation” keeps changing.

The third is cash flow: after the prosecution, before the judgment, the other party to the account of the year-end bonus, commission, housing provident fund or company dividends, formed during the marriage, in principle should be included in the common property ". Whether a year-end bonus is paid before or after a certain deadline can make a difference of as much as several hundred thousand yuan.

2. legal rules: the point of termination of the marriage relationship vs the practice segmentation node.

1. The legal end point: the date of entry into force of the divorce judgment and the mediation agreement.

Article 1080 of the Civil Code: "The marriage relationship is dissolved when the divorce registration is completed, or the divorce judgment or mediation agreement becomes effective." In a divorce lawsuit, the marriage is not dissolved at the time of filing or at the court hearing (the first-instance judgment becomes effective upon the expiration of the fifteen-day appeal period; the second-instance judgment becomes effective upon service; and a mediation agreement becomes effective upon signature by both parties). Until the divorce takes effect, the parties remain legally married. In principle, any wages, investment income, and other assets acquired by either party after the case is filed, after the court hearing, and even during the appeal period, fall within the scope of jointly owned property under Article 1062, except for personal property as defined in Article 1063 (such as premarital property and compensation for personal injury). Separation does not terminate the marriage, and any income or property acquired during that period is, in principle, still considered marital property.

2. Why practice cannot be "counted up to the effective date"

If strictly according to the effective date of unlimited calculation, the case from prosecution to effective often takes months or even a year, income and account changes continue to occur, the scope of investigation can not be determined, the party with more assets may also take advantage of the delay to let the "common property" roll bigger and bigger-the court must "card" the scope at a certain point.

3. Mainstream practice: date of conclusion of first instance court arguments

In judicial practice, most courts take the date of the end of the last court debate of the first instance as the division node: both parties apply for divorce, which is tantamount to declaring that they will no longer live together, the foundation of common ownership has been shaken, the scope of property should be fixed at the end of the trial, and the property after the node until the judgment takes effect will not be dealt with in this case. This reflects the prevailing practice rather than statutory compulsion, and in some cases, the date on which the judgment becomes final is used as the cutoff.

4. Negotiation or court discretion

When both parties agree to divorce, the judge often consults the deadline for consultation in court, such as "property is counted until May 31, 2025". Once written into the trial record or mediation agreement, both parties are bound. If the parties cannot reach an agreement, the court shall, in its discretion, determine a reasonable cutoff point, balancing the convenience of the proceedings with the requirement of fairness.

3. differences in base dates for different property types

1. Property: ownership depends on the point of acquisition, value depends on the valuation date.

Real estate should distinguish between "common property" and "at what price". As for the former, it depends on the time of acquisition and the source of funds: property purchased before marriage and registered in one party’s name is that party’s personal property; property purchased during marriage or for which mortgage payments are made jointly after marriage constitutes marital property. For a property with a down payment made before marriage and joint mortgage repayments made after marriage, in accordance with Article 78 of the Interpretation (I) of the Chapter on Marriage and Family, if no agreement can be reached, the court may rule that the property belongs to the registered owner, who shall compensate the other party for “the amounts paid toward the mortgage after marriage and the corresponding increase in the property’s value.” The amount of theValue-added (value increment) is determined based on the benchmark date: the court sets the compensation amount using the appraised market value as of a date close to the conclusion of the court debate; once that date is fixed, any subsequent increases or decreases in value are borne by the party who obtains the property. For properties for which ownership has not yet been acquired—such as those still subject to a mortgage—the court only grants the right of use, and any disputes over the timing are deferred until the issue of ownership is resolved.

2. Deposits and wages: see the account and the time of arrival.

The key to property such as deposits and wages is whether the acquisition time falls before or after the node. Article 25 of the "Interpretation (I) of the Chapter on Marriage and Family" clearly states: Housing subsidies and housing provident funds actually obtained or that should have been obtained during the subsistence of the marital relationship are also considered joint property. Income received before the specified date is fully included in the division; as for year-end bonuses received after that date, if they correspond to labor performed during the marriage, the other party may still claim a proportional share, though this typically requires separate proof. Before filing a lawsuit, obtaining complete bank statements and housing fund records for the past two years is a standard preliminary step in such cases.

3. Stocks and funds: the proceeds of active operations are common.

Article 26 of the (I) Interpretation of Marriage and Family: "The income generated by the personal property of one of the spouses after marriage shall be recognized as the joint property of the husband and wife, except for the fruits and natural appreciation." When applied to stocks: Shares purchased before marriage and held unchanged after marriage represent natural appreciation and belong to the original holder; shares purchased with additional investments or traded frequently after marriage generate income that is considered joint property; stocks and mutual funds acquired during marriage using marital income are themselves marital property, and their market value on the relevant date serves as the basis for division. During litigation, the greatest concern is that the opposing party will sell off assets for cash and transfer the proceeds before a critical deadline—this is precisely where asset preservation measures and transaction record evidence come into play.

4. Company equity and dividends: the timing of capital contribution to determine the ownership, dividends to see the resolution.

There are many private enterprises in Ningbo, and it is very common for husband and wife to hold shares. Equity acquired after marriage through contributions of marital property, transfer, or capital increase is considered marital property; whether dividends can be divided depends in practice on the timing of the dividend resolution—dividends for which a distribution resolution was adopted prior to that point are deemed marital property. As for income generated after divorce that requires one party’s labor or management to accrue, the other party may still assert a claim; however, purely natural appreciation in value generally belongs to the shareholder. There are significant case-specific differences; it is advisable to clearly discuss the current equity structure, the valuation benchmark, and the future distribution of earnings in tandem.

5. Continuing income property: options, annuities and intellectual property.

Options, restricted stocks, annuities and other "now held, future cashed" property, often after divorce. Article 24 of the Interpretation (I) of the Chapter on Marriage and Family provides the following guideline: During the subsistence of the marital relationship, income from intellectual property rights that has been “actually obtained or has been clearly ascertainable” shall be considered joint property. Regarding the relationship between option grant and exercise: where options are granted during the marriage but exercised after divorce, most courts apportion the value based on each party’s contributions during the marriage. The most prudent approach is to clearly specify the current valuation and the allocation of future earnings in the agreement or mediation.

Four Things to Do Before 4. Prosecute

1. Comprehensive fixed evidence, leaving a bottom for the "state at the time of prosecution".

Before the prosecution, the family property was comprehensively sorted out and fixed evidence: screenshots of bank running water and balance in the past two years, real estate certificates and loan repayment certificates, stock fund statements, provident fund and pension records, equity structure materials, policy cash value pages, large creditor's rights certificates, etc., important materials can be notarized. The underlying documentation serves two purposes: it enables the court to swiftly ascertain the parties’ assets, and it establishes a baseline for the “state of assets at the time of filing the lawsuit”—should the opposing party transfer substantial funds, it becomes the foundational evidence for alleging fraudulent transfer and seeking a reduced or zero share of the marital property.

2. Simultaneous application for preservation and investigation when necessary

If you know that the other party has financial management that is about to expire, stocks that are about to be realized, large income that is about to be paid, or signs of transfer, don't wait for the hearing: when filing a case, you can apply for property preservation (according to the preservation provisions of the Civil Procedure Law, guarantee is generally required), freeze accounts, seal up real estate, and prohibit equity changes; The earlier the preservation, the sooner the transfer channel will be cut off.

3. Evaluate the pros and cons of nodes rationally and talk about a favorable deadline.

When the court consulted the node, it should settle accounts first: if there are year-end bonuses and dividends to be paid in the next few months, or if the other party has large liabilities and transfer risks in the near future, the node should "circle" the income to be paid into the common property as early as possible; If one's income is expected to increase and the other party's assets are stable, the node can be moved back appropriately. The greatest leverage lies in the negotiation phase.

4. Beware of property changes and agree in advance on continuing income.

If, during the litigation period, it is found that the other party transfers abnormally large amounts, sells at low prices, suddenly buys large amounts of insurance policies, or fictitious debts, in accordance with Article 1092 of the Civil Code, if the common property is hidden, transferred, sold, destroyed or squandered, it may be divided less or not. Three-step response: Immediately apply for asset preservation, retain transaction records, and explicitly assert the claim of malicious asset transfer during the trial. At the same time, put into writing an agreement that clearly defines the current valuation of ongoing income‑generating assets such as equity and stock options, as well as the future distribution of their proceeds—so that even if you win the divorce, you don’t end up losing control over those long‑term earnings.

5. special circumstances: split again after divorce, how to calculate the time point

The first is the common property that is indeed missed at the time of divorce. It may be subject to a separate lawsuit for division pursuant to Article 83 of the Interpretation (I) of the Chapter on Marriage and Family. Is such a claim subject to the three-year statute of limitations? The prevailing view holds that it is not—because the right to partition jointly owned property is, in essence, a formative right and does not lapse with the passage of time (see, for example, the Guangxi High People’s Court’s November 2025 Q&A on judicial practice and the legal principles governing the partition of jointly owned property under Article 303 of the Civil Code). However, the longer it is delayed, the more difficult it becomes to gather all the evidence; therefore, prolonged delays are not advisable.

Second, if one party hides, transfers, sells or damages the common property at the time of divorce or before the divorce, and the other party discovers it only after the divorce, it may be sued for re-division in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 1092 of the Civil Code, but it must be sued within three years from the date of discovery (Article 84 of the Interpretation (I) for Marriage and Family). Guiding Case No. 66 of the Supreme People’s Court—Lei v. Song, a divorce dispute (Beijing No. 3 Intermediate People’s Court, case no. 2015 San Zhong Min Zhong Zi No. 08205)—is a typical example: prior to the divorce proceedings, Lei transferred RMB 195,000 from the account to a third party, provided inconsistent statements, and failed to clarify the destination of the funds. The court determined that this constituted a transfer of marital property and accordingly modified the judgment, ordering Lei to compensate the other party RMB 120,000. “The principle of ‘less division upon transfer’ remains the uniform national policy to this day.”

Incidentally, reminder: if the divorce agreement has agreed to divide but refuses to perform, the right to claim payment in the nature of creditor's rights shall be subject to the three-year statute of limitations and shall be claimed as soon as possible.

Reference to Class Cases: Chen Mou 1. In the case of property disputes after Sun Mou's divorce, the court held that if one party transferred a large amount of money to an outsider without reasonable and legal reasons, it should still be divided as the joint property of the husband and wife. It is evident that disputes over the timing of property division cannot alter the joint nature of such property merely because one party transferred funds before or after the divorce. Trial Court: Intermediate People’s Court of Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province Case No.: (2018) Zhe

02Min Zhong 1065

6. Frequently Asked Questions

Can you ask for half of the year-end bonus awarded by the other party only after the prosecution?

If the marriage is not dissolved before the judgment comes into effect, the year-end bonus is common property in principle if it corresponds to the labor during the marriage. However, if the court has taken the end date of the court debate as the node, those who arrive after the node are often "no longer dealt with in this case". It is recommended that, prior to filing a lawsuit, the negotiation deadline be set as close as possible to the disbursement date, or that claims be calculated on a pro rata basis for the relevant period.

What should I do if the other party sells the stock and cashes it out to relatives during the lawsuit?

Three steps: immediately apply for preservation of frozen accounts; Apply to the court for access to the transaction and transfer flow; In the trial, it was claimed that it constituted the transfer act of Article 1,092 of the Civil Code, requesting less or no division. Claims discovered after divorce may be filed within three years from the date of discovery (Interpretation (I), Article 84).

After five years of divorce, I found out that I missed a shop that year. Can I sue?

Sure. According to Article 83 of the Interpretation (I) of the Chapter on Marriage and Family, as long as it concerns joint property that was not addressed during the divorce, the court shall divide it in accordance with the law; the prevailing view is that such claims are not subject to the three-year statute of limitations. The prerequisite is being able to prove that the property is indeed jointly owned and has not yet been disposed of—both the original purchase contract and the financial records of contributions must be produced; the earlier the evidence is presented, the easier it will be.

7. Practical Insights from a Lawyer

The first step in the division of property is not to calculate money, but to delineate the time frame. Legally, the marital relationship is not terminated until a divorce judgment or mediation agreement takes effect; however, during litigation, a specific date is typically designated as the cutoff point, and the parties are also permitted to agree on their own termination date. The specific cutoff date directly determines whether the property appraisal value, stock market capitalization, and cash flows are included in the calculation, and the resulting figures can vary significantly. Therefore, the parties should not wait for the court to decide; rather, they must carefully consider their claims and proactively assert them before filing a lawsuit, thereby taking control of the initiative.

In terms of specific operation, several things should be completed before the lawsuit: the ownership and changes of real estate, equity, stock account, provident fund and bonus should be organized into a timeline; For assets that may be delayed and continuously shrink or transferred by the other party, evaluate whether to apply for preservation; For the benefits that are beneficial to one's own party, such as the year-end bonus and dividend that the other party continues to receive after separation, evidence of the formation time should be retained and the common property should be claimed. If you are concerned that the other party may hastily dispose of assets during the litigation, the sooner you secure evidence and apply for asset preservation, the better you can prevent unforeseen developments from occurring after that critical point.

When negotiating, the node itself can be used as a bargaining chip. If the other party delays in order to "shrink" the assets, it can be clearly informed that it is not necessarily beneficial to delay-the growth during the marriage is still common property in principle, and the delay may increase the number of points. Conversely, if the party’s assets continue to grow after the node, it may proactively propose setting the cut-off date at a later time. Putting the “specific date” upfront and including it in the mediation agreement often helps avoid subsequent disputes and reduces the other party’s room to demand a higher price at the last minute.

Back to the question at the beginning: When is the property counted in the divorce? The answer is divided into two layers-legally, the marriage relationship ends on the effective date of the divorce judgment and the mediation agreement (Article 1080 of the Civil Code), and the previous income is still common property in principle; in practice, the court usually fixes the division scope by the end of the first instance court debate, and the node can also be negotiated or determined by the court. For the parties concerned, what is more important than "how much to fight for" is "which day to count": the base date determines the base of real estate evaluation, the market value of stocks and the attribution of year-end bonus, one day earlier and one day later, the difference can reach hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Four things must be done in front: Fix the property evidence into a "bottom list" before filing a lawsuit; Apply for preservation simultaneously when necessary; When the court inquires about the node, it will settle accounts first and then make a statement. If it can negotiate, it will be written into the record. Keep an eye on the account changes throughout the process, and if any transfer is found, it will be divided or divided immediately according to Article 1092. Whenever possible, opt for a divorce by mutual agreement, and specify in the agreement that “property settlement will be finalized as of a certain date, with any assets acquired thereafter belonging to each party individually.” In divorce proceedings, the day when it is clear is the day when it is really turned over.