Insights

How does Ningbo check each other's marital status and property? What are the legal ways

Ningbo Author：LuXu WANG

In Ningbo, when a marriage reaches the point where the parties need to clarify their relationship and divide assets, many people’s first instinct is to “investigate on their own”: checking their spouse’s marital status, as well as how much real estate and savings are registered under the other party’s name. But here must first give a clear conclusion-- Relying on oneself to directly investigate the other party often encounters obstacles at every turn; the only truly lawful, effective, and court‑admissible avenues are primarily through judicial channels—namely, court‑ordered evidence collection and attorney‑issued investigation orders.Furthermore, any evidence obtained through illegal means—such as purchasing information unlawfully, unauthorized access to another party’s account, or engaging so‑called “private investigators”—will not be admitted by the court, and the perpetrator may also incur civil or even criminal liability. This article takes "legality and compliance" as the main line and makes clear "what can be checked, who will check, how to check and what cannot be touched.

1. First, distinguish between "marital status" and "property" information.

Many people regard "checking the other party" as one thing. In fact, these are two types of information with completely different properties, and the applicable query rules are also completely different.

The marital status belongs to the identity information, involving the registration records of marriage, divorce, remarriage, remarriage, etc. Its subject of inquiry is strictly limited: it is generally open only to the parties to the marriage themselves, trustees entrusted by notarization, and specific organs and agents ad litem on statutory grounds. Under the current institutional framework, ordinary individuals are prohibited from inquiring about whether “someone else has been married,” as such information is quintessential personal privacy and confidential data.

The scope of property information is much broader, encompassing bank deposits, real estate, vehicles, equity interests, securities, mutual funds, insurance policies, housing provident fund accounts, and balances in online payment accounts, among others. There is also a threshold for the inquiry of property information: the right holder can check his own, the specific unit can check the official business, and whether the "spouse check spouse" can be established depends on whether the proceedings are entered and whether it is carried out by the court or the lawyer holding the order.

If you look at these two categories separately, you will understand: marital status is "not available in principle", and property information is "available with conditions and channels". The following will be discussed separately.

How to check 2. marital status

I check my own records: the most direct, the most smooth

Parties to a marriage, upon presentation of valid identification, may inspect their own marriage registration records; this right is explicitly conferred upon the parties by the Measures for the Administration of Marriage Registration Archives. If you want to check whether you have been registered, in which year and with whom, you can go to the original marriage registration office or the national archives where the files are stored. If I cannot go in person for some reason, I can handle the power of attorney and entrust others to handle it on my behalf. The power of attorney generally needs to be notarized by a notary public.

Checking someone’s marital history: In principle, it cannot be accessed.

This is the one point that is most easily misunderstood. Marriage registration files involve the privacy of citizens and are restricted to open use. According to the current regulations, the main subjects who have the right to consult the marriage registration files of others are: the people's court, the people's Procuratorate, and the public security and security departments can consult with the unit letter of introduction in order to confirm the marriage relationship of the parties; lawyers and other agents ad litem can consult the marriage registration files related to the litigation with the certification materials issued by the court accepting the case and their valid certificates; in addition, other units, organizations and individuals can also make use of reasonable use after examination and approval by the competent leader.

In other words, an ordinary person who has not been prosecuted and lacks a legitimate legal basis will typically be denied access to the other party’s complete marital history simply on the grounds that “I am their spouse.” The status of being a spouse, in itself, does not automatically confer the right to access information.

In cases of unauthorized registration or identity theft: you may apply to review and correct the relevant records.

In practice, there is also a special situation: a party discovers that they have been “married” or “divorced” without their knowledge, and that someone has fraudulently used their identity to register a marriage. At this time, the third party whose identity is faked belongs to the interested party, and can apply for inquiry of relevant files according to relevant regulations, and can file an administrative lawsuit to cancel the wrong registration, which is completely different from the nature of arbitrarily inquiring about other people's information.

Current Status of the “Certificate of No Marriage Registration”

should also remind a fact that has changed for many years: since the notice of the Ministry of civil affairs on further standardizing the work related to (no) marriage registration record certificate (min han [2015] No. 266) was issued in 2015, except for the notarization matters related to Taiwan and the notarization matters of 9 countries such as Kazakhstan, civil affairs departments in various regionsNo longer issue “Certificate of No Marriage Registration” to any departments or individuals., commonly known as the "certificate of singleness." Therefore, today, if you want to use a piece of "single certificate" to prove that the other party is unmarried, this road is already impassable. The subjects who do have the basis of laws and regulations and need to verify the marriage registration are generally completed through inter-departmental information verification and official letter exchanges, rather than by the parties themselves.

3. Why should assets be investigated, and when should they be investigated?

There is only one core reason why property should be investigated: fear of being transferred, concealed and squandered. In practice, the party with the initiative in the family property will often "remove" the common property through large transfers to close relatives, low-cost transfers of equity, false investment losses, hidden representation, fictitious large consumption and even forged debts before and after the deterioration of feelings, separation, and even prosecution ". When the other party has no clues, the court can only decide on the basis of existing evidence, and the division of property may be seriously unbalanced.

But the property inquiry has a key premise:In divorce proceedings, only investigations have compulsory force. During the existence of the marriage, one spouse does not have the right to go to the bank to retrieve the other's account; the bank will also refuse the individual's inquiry to the other's account according to relevant regulations. Only after the divorce proceedings (or post-divorce property disputes) enter the proceedings, by applying to the court for investigation and collection of evidence and applying to the court for the issuance of a lawyer's investigation order, it is possible to use judicial power to obtain evidence that "the parties objectively cannot collect on their own. What can be done before litigation is mainly to fix the clues known to oneself. Generally speaking, no investigation order can be issued at the pre-litigation preservation stage.

LIST OF LEGAL WAYS TO 4.

1. The clues and evidence already known to the parties involved

This is the starting point of all investigations, and it is also the "rich mine" that many people ignore ". What you can do by yourself includes: keeping copies of marriage certificate, real estate certificate, vehicle registration certificate, business license, insurance contract and other certificates; Record the spouse's bank card number, bank of deposit and common payment account number; Take photos to keep the loan contract, financial management contract and bank receipt in the home; Sorting out the name of the spouse's employment and shareholding company and unifying the social credit code. These seemingly scattered information is the "key" to apply to the court for investigation and lock the object of investigation. Without preliminary clues, the court will generally not support your application for investigation.

2. Apply to the court for investigation and evidence collection in the lawsuit

The Civil Procedure Law stipulates that the people's court shall investigate and collect the evidence that the parties and their agents ad litem cannot collect on their own due to objective reasons. Relevant judicial interpretations of the Supreme People’s Court further clarify that “objective reasons preventing self-collection” include: evidence held by relevant state authorities and inaccessible to the parties for review or retrieval; matters involving state secrets, trade secrets, or personal privacy; as well as other objective circumstances. Bank flow, industrial and commercial internal files, real estate registration information, etc., are in this category. The application shall be made in writing before the expiration of the time limit for proof, stating clearly the person under investigation, the object of investigation, the time period and the contents of the call.

3. Apply to the Court for a Solicitor's Investigation Order

This is currently the most commonly used channel for obtaining property evidence in matrimonial and family cases. The attorney shall submit an application for an investigation order to the court. If the court deems it necessary, it shall issue an investigation order, and the lawyer holding the order shall obtain the designated evidence from the bank, real estate registration institution, market supervision department, securities registration institution, provident fund center and other units within the scope of authorization. Taking Zhejiang as an example, the higher people's Court of Zhejiang Province has specially formulated measures to standardize the system of lawyers' investigation orders, which makes it clear that investigation orders can be applied for at all stages of prosecution, trial and execution, and stipulates that the court should investigate the property status of the person subject to execution through the network investigation and control system. It should be noted that the scope of investigations, the number of years covered by financial records, and whether “blanket searches with no specific leads” are permitted vary from one jurisdiction to another. When applying, you should provide as specific leads as possible.

4. Apply for online investigation and property preservation

When grasping the initial clues and judging the existence of transfer risks, you can apply for property preservation at the same time, freeze and seal up the verified deposits, real estate and equity, and "lock up" first and then check slowly. The Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests also stipulates that during divorce proceedings, both spouses have the obligation to declare all the joint property of the husband and wife to the people's court, and accordingly can apply to the court to issue a declaration order for the joint property of the husband and wife to both parties. If a party refuses to declare or makes a false declaration, it may be regarded as an important fact of concealed property, and it shall be divided or not divided at the time of division.

5. The part that is publicly available

Not all information is subject to judicial proceedings. Some are public: enterprise industrial and commercial registration information, equity structure, employment status, can be inquired through the national enterprise credit information publicity system and other channels; enterprise change, judicial disclosure information can also be retrieved. However, two points should be noted: first, There are restrictions on the external inquiry of real estate registration information, according to the Provisional Regulations on Real Estate Registration and its implementation rules, only three types of subjects can be queried: obligees, interested parties and relevant state organs. Interested parties also need to submit materials to prove their interests and are not allowed to make public or illegally use the queried materials. Second, even if they are found, they can only be used as clues. Whether they can be used as final evidence depends on whether the source is legal.

Specific query path of 5. various types of property

The query objects and paths vary depending on the type of property; the following sections provide a detailed explanation for each category.

  • Bank statement. To request a personal account statement from a bank, you typically need to provide the specific branch and card number. If the available information is insufficient, you may apply to have the other party’s transaction history from a particular date onward investigated at a designated bank. The transfer should be specifically noted to the transaction details rather than just the balance, as the balance is only a static number and does not reflect the flow of funds. The discovered large-amount cash withdrawals, frequent transfers to relatives and friends or specific individuals, and account closure records are then used as evidence to allege asset transfer or concealment.
  • Property. Through the real estate registration agency to query the other party's real estate registration files, including sales, gifts, mortgages, transfers and other historical change records.
  • Vehicle. Through the vehicle registration authority to obtain the vehicle registration, mortgage, transfer transfer files, can reflect the vehicle purchase and disposal of the point of time.
  • Equity and Business. First find out the related enterprises and equity changes through the publicity system, and then apply for an investigation order to obtain the industrial and commercial internal files, shareholders' meeting resolutions, equity transfer agreements, etc. of the target company and suspected related companies. Involving the company's internal accounts, equity holding, often due to "involving third party rights and interests" and limited, if necessary, need to file a separate right to confirm the lawsuit.
  • Alipay, WeChat. Bank account statements for online payment accounts also constitute information that can only be obtained with a subpoena or through a court-ordered investigation. The exact name of the company concerned should be written in the application, and a single word error may lead to the reopening of the investigation order.
  • Insurance. The cash value of financial insurance, annuity insurance and life insurance with cash value purchased with common property after marriage is usually divisible property. Information on insurance coverage, payment, cash value, etc. can be obtained from the insurance company through an investigation order.
  • Provident Fund. During the subsistence of the marriage, the employer’s contributions to the housing provident fund and enterprise pension plan generally constitute marital property and can be verified by obtaining the contribution records from the housing provident fund management center.
  • SECURITIES ACCOUNT. The list of transactions and positions are obtained through China's securities registration and settlement institutions and securities companies.
  • Offshore Assets. Offshore accounts, offshore real estate, offshore trusts are the most difficult to query, often subject to local confidentiality rules. If the registration of an overseas marriage is involved, it is usually necessary to entrust a local lawyer to apply to the registration authority on the grounds of "legitimate interest", and the relevant documents need to be notarized and certified in The Hague; if a lawsuit has been filed, it can also be obtained through judicial channels.

6. red lines and risks

The following "shortcuts", which seem to be able to get the materials, are actually illegal and must be clearly avoided.

  • Inquire and log into other people's accounts privately. Unauthorized cracking of the other party's mobile phone password, logging into the other party's online banking or payment account to obtain running water is illegal access to other people's information. Such evidence may be excluded, and the perpetrator may also constitute an infringement of citizens' personal information and other crimes.
  • Illegal purchase of information. The so‑called online services for “checking hotel records,” “checking bank statements,” and “checking marital history” almost all originate from illegal sources. Buyers are not only a link in the chain of infringement; they may also be held liable themselves.
  • Illegal installation of positioning and monitoring equipment. Secretly installing tracking devices or eavesdropping and hidden-camera equipment on another person’s vehicle or belongings, and spying on or eavesdropping on their private activities, directly violates the provisions of the Civil Code regarding the right to privacy.
  • Hire a "private investigator".Many “investigation companies” on the market do not have legal investigative authority. The principal may be held jointly and severally liable for the joint infringement, and in serious cases, criminal liability may also be incurred.

The legal basis is clear: the Civil Code clearly stipulates that natural persons enjoy the right to privacy, and no organization or individual is allowed to infringe others' privacy by spying, intruding, leaking or disclosing; the Personal Information Protection Law also stipulates that no organization or individual is allowed to illegally collect, use, process or transmit others' personal information, nor is it allowed to illegally trade, provide or disclose others' personal information.Evidence obtained by illegal means will not help you, but may turn you from a "victim" to a "responsible person".

7. Suggested time nodes

Before the lawsuit: Do your homework

Don't try to "steal" at this stage, but fix the clues you can find at home: certificates, contracts, receipts, account information, sort out the spouse's employment and equity participation, and keep records of suspicious transfers and large consumption. Electronic evidence to retain the original carrier, do not delete, only do backup.

After filing the case: officially enter the investigation window

After the divorce case is filed and the case number is obtained, the lawyer can submit the application for investigation order, or the party can submit the application for investigation and evidence collection. This is the golden period of access to bank flow, real estate files, industrial and commercial internal files, and payment flow. At the same time, you can apply for a property declaration order, property preservation, and advance the verification and fixation simultaneously.

Implementation phase: network check and control

If the execution procedure has been entered, the court can investigate the property status of the person subject to execution through the network inspection and control system, and the lawyer holding the order can also apply for an investigation order at the execution stage to continue the supplementary investigation.

In addition, it should be remembered that if the other party's hidden property is discovered after divorce, the property dispute after divorce can be brought up separately, but there is a time limit, so you should act as soon as possible, and don't miss the window of rights protection due to delay.

8. Common Misconceptions

Misconception 1: “I have the right to check on everything my spouse does.”

Spousal status does not equate to unlimited access to information. Bank accounts, marriage records, and real estate registration data each have specific restrictions on who is authorized to access them. The notion that “any spouse can access the information” runs into obstacles at almost every stage.

Misunderstanding 2: "Find someone to trust the relationship"

Bypassing regulations to obtain information about the other party through personal connections or internal channels may, at best, result in the evidence being excluded due to its unlawful source; at worst, it could lead to legal consequences for both the person who provided assistance and the individual whose information was sought. Although the legal route may be a bit slower, the evidence stands up to scrutiny.

Misconception 3: Checking only the balance, not the transaction history.

If you only check the account balance, you’re likely to find nothing. The real value lies in the transaction details—where the funds were transferred, when, and to whom.

Myth 4: Expect the court to "fully investigate" without clues"

Courts generally do not grant broadly phrased requests such as “search all of a person’s bank accounts nationwide.” Providing specific clues is a prerequisite for initiating an investigation.

9. Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I go to the Civil Affairs Bureau myself to check my spouse’s marriage history?

Generally not. Marriage registration records involve personal privacy and, in principle, are accessible only to the individual concerned, to a duly notarized authorized representative, and to specific authorities performing their duties in accordance with the law, as well as to litigation agents. Spousal status alone does not automatically confer access rights.

2. Can I apply for an investigation order even though the divorce lawsuit has not yet been filed?

Generally, after a divorce case is filed and assigned a case number, the attorney may apply for it during the filing, trial, or enforcement stages. A letter of inquiry is typically not issued during the pre-litigation preservation phase.

3. Check the bank account of the other party. Do you need to provide the card number?

In most cases, you will need to provide the specific bank branch and card number. When the available leads are insufficient, you may attempt to request a court order to examine the other party’s bank transaction records from a specific date onward; however, approval is at the court’s discretion, and blanket, unfocused inquiries without any supporting evidence are typically rejected.

4. Can the transaction records that are found be directly used to determine that the other party has transferred their assets?

The flowing water serves as both a clue and evidence. For large, unusual and concentrated expenditures, the burden of proof will be tilted to the other party, which will explain the reasonableness of the use of funds.

5. Is it okay to secretly access the other party’s account information?

No. This constitutes the unlawful acquisition of another person’s information; the evidence may be excluded, and the perpetrator may also incur civil or even criminal liability.

6. Can property registered under someone else’s name that belongs to the other party be directly investigated and directly divided?

can't check and score directly. Involving nominee, it is usually necessary to collect clues such as capital contribution, nominee agreement, income flow, etc., and if necessary, file a separate case to confirm the right of action, and then claim to divide the corresponding value after obtaining the effective judgment.

10. Practical Insights from a Lawyer

Many people assume that “investigating the other party” is something they can handle on their own, only to end up hitting dead ends or taking the wrong approach. First of all, the two types of information should be separated: marital status belongs to identity privacy, which cannot be found in principle by ordinary individuals and only one party with spouse status; Although there are more channels for property information, whether the "spouse check spouse" can be established depends on whether there is any entry into the lawsuit and who will check it. Information obtained through private purchases, unauthorized access to another person’s account, or materials acquired from so‑called private investigators will not only be deemed inadmissible by the court, but the person engaging in such conduct may also be held liable. Only by recognizing this will you avoid wasting your energy on the wrong things.

The two channels that are truly effective are court-ordered evidence collection and attorney‑issued investigation orders. What you have to do is to sort out the clues specifically enough to apply: the name of the opening bank, the end number of the account number, the full name of the company and the shareholding situation, the location of the real estate, the car number, and the common payment platform. The more detailed, the easier it is to be approved. When filing a case, an application for investigation can be submitted together, allowing the court to transfer bank records, real estate registration and industrial and commercial files. In case of emergency before litigation, evidence preservation or property preservation should be considered first. Marital status is typically obtained by the court or litigation counsel during proceedings based on supporting documentation; individuals are often unable to obtain such information through a standalone inquiry.

Timing and confidentiality are often more important than the method itself. Once you detect large or unusual fund movements by the other party, don’t rush to confront them. First, secure the transaction records and any relevant leads, then apply for asset preservation measures to prevent them from further transferring their assets. During negotiations, be especially careful not to reveal any cards you’ve already uncovered; otherwise, the other party may act ahead of you to dispose of assets, leaving you with no leads by the time you try to investigate. First, verify everything that can be verified and secure everything that should be secured; leave the rest to the judicial process to resolve—this approach is far more effective than acting in a haphazard, piecemeal manner.

can be summarized into three sentences: first, the marital status can only be checked by oneself, and the other party should go through the channel of judicial or legal interests; second, the property information should be checked by external forces, and the core tools are court investigation and evidence collection and lawyer investigation order, supplemented by property declaration order, property preservation and public information; third, legality is the bottom line, any private inquiries, purchase information, installation monitoring, hiring illegal investigations are not desirable.

If you are dealing with the problem of marital property in Ningbo, the correct order is: first sort out your own clues, consult professional marriage and family lawyers as soon as possible, and promptly check the investigation in place through the court and investigation order after the lawsuit, and at the same time lock the lock with security. Using the proper procedure is more reliable than taking shortcuts.