Do I have to pay back the debts owed by Ningbo's spouse for gambling and drug abuse?

If my spouse has incurred debts through gambling or drug use, am I obligated to repay them? This is one of the most frequently asked questions in marriage and family counseling. To begin with the conclusion: in principle, there is no need to repay. In accordance with Article 1,064 of the Civil Code and the current judicial interpretations, debts arising from illegal or criminal activities, such as gambling debts and drug-related debts, do not constitute marital joint debts. Moreover, if the lender knew or should have known that the borrower intended to use the loan for gambling or drug use, the loan itself may be deemed invalid and is not protected by law. In other words, if a creditor comes to your door with a promissory note and demands that you repay your spouse’s debt, such a claim is generally not legally tenable.

However, “in principle, no repayment is required” does not mean “there are absolutely no consequences.” Which specific details still require attention? What should be done if the money has already been squandered? How should one respond when faced with a lawsuit? And can the money already paid on behalf of the other party be recovered? All of these issues need to be clarified. Now, let’s proceed in order.

1. First, clarify the nature of the "debt".

When determining whether you should repay your spouse’s debts, the first step is not to look at the amount borrowed, but rather to assess the legal nature of the debt. Article 1,064 of the Civil Code categorizes marital joint debts into three types, which serves as the starting point for all subsequent analysis.

First, debts incurred by both spouses through joint signatures or by one spouse’s subsequent ratification—i.e., based on a shared expression of intent—constitute marital joint debts. Simply put, it means you either signed the loan agreement or, afterward, indicated your “consent to this loan” via WeChat, text message, or verbally. This is "joint debt, joint signing."

Second, debts incurred by one spouse during the marriage in their own name for the ordinary daily needs of the family shall be regarded as joint debts of the spouses. For example, loans taken out for essential household expenses such as grocery shopping, utility bill payments, routine medical care, and children’s education do not require the creditor to provide additional proof; the law automatically presumes such debts to be joint obligations.

Third, debts incurred by one spouse during the subsistence of the marriage in their own name, exceeding the needs of the family’s daily life, do not constitute joint marital debt; however, this does not apply if the creditor can prove that the debt was used for the couple’s common living expenses, for their joint production or business operations, or was incurred pursuant to a joint expression of intent by both spouses. This category is the most critical: it presumes that loans involving “substantial amounts and unrelated to the family’s daily expenses” are personal debts, thereby shifting the burden of proof to the creditor.

To summarize the three categories in one sentence:Let’s see how this money was borrowed and what it was used for. Joint debts signed by both spouses and expenses incurred for the ordinary needs of the family are all considered joint debts because the funds are used for household purposes. Any amount exceeding these needs is, under the law, presumed to be the individual debt of one spouse; unless the creditor can prove otherwise, they cannot compel the other spouse to share in the repayment.

Here, a bit of background needs to be provided. In the past, Judicial Interpretation (II) of the Marriage Law, Article 24, was long applied, using "the debt incurred during marriage" as the standard; debts incurred by one spouse during marriage were often presumed to be joint debts. In 2017, the Supreme People's Court issued supplementary regulations to clearly exclude debts incurred by illegal and criminal activities such as gambling and drug abuse from joint debts; in 2018, it passed the Law Interpretation [2018] No. 2 on the Application of Laws in the Trial of Cases Involving Marital Debt Disputes Interpretation of Issues "changed the judgment standard back to" use theory ", re-focusing on" whether to live together between husband and wife ", and established the principle of co-debt and co-signing. Article 1,064 of the Civil Code precisely incorporates these rules.

It is also a reminder that the second paragraph of Article 1064 retains the "exception" rule-creditors can prove that the debt is used for the husband and wife to live together, jointly produce and operate, or based on the common intention of both husband and wife, large loans beyond the daily needs of the family may also be recognized as joint debts. It is evident that, when creditors seek to impose joint liability, the “proof” hurdle is of paramount importance.

Furthermore, Article 1,065 of the Civil Code provides that spouses may enter into a written agreement stipulating that all property acquired during the marriage shall be owned separately by each spouse. In such cases, if a third party is aware of this agreement, any debt incurred by one spouse shall be discharged from the debtor’s personal assets; the burden of proving that the third party was aware rests with the party asserting this fact.

2. How does the law view debts incurred from gambling and drug use?

Gambling is an illegal activity in China; in serious cases, it constitutes the crime of gambling. The use and trafficking of drugs are even more explicitly prohibited by law as drug-related criminal activities. Debts arising from such conduct are legally referred to as “illegal debts,” and their legal characterization directly determines the extent of liability for the spouse and yourself.

In 2017, the Supreme People's Court issued supplementary provisions to the Judicial Interpretation (II) of the Marriage Law, explicitly stating for the first time that "if one spouse incurs debts while engaging in illegal or criminal activities such as gambling or drug use, the people's court will not support claims made by third parties." Article 34 of the current (I) of interpretation of marriage and family of the civil code continues this rule: if one of the husband and wife collude with a third party to fabricate a debt, and the third party claims that the debt is the joint debt of the husband and wife, the people's court will not support it; if the third party claims that the debt is the joint debt of the husband and wife, the people's court will not support it.

In other words, gambling debts and drug debts are not only not considered marital joint debts, but as so‑called “personal debts,” they are likewise not protected by law.You are not required to “repay” this debt on behalf of your spouse to the lender.Debts incurred from losing money at gambling tables, or debts for drugs purchased on credit from drug dealers, are all generated in the course of engaging in illegal or criminal activities and are not protected by law; where such acts constitute a crime, the relevant criminal leads shall also be referred to the investigative authorities.

There is another, even more common scenario: one spouse borrows money from others—including loan sharks, gambling buddies, and drug associates—in order to gamble or use drugs, and the lender, knowing or reasonably ought to have known that the funds would be used for illegal or criminal activities, nevertheless proceeds with the loan. At this point, the loan contract itself may also be invalid. Article 13 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Private Lending Cases lists six situations in which private lending contracts are invalid, including "the lender knows or should know in advance that the borrower's loan is used for illegal and criminal activities and still provides loans", and "violates the mandatory provisions of laws and administrative regulations" and "violates public order and good customs".

3. Should a spouse repay?

Back to the question you care about most: If your spouse has incurred debts through gambling or drug use, do you have to pay them back? Generally, no. The reasons can be summarized in three points.

First, this type of debt does not constitute marital joint debt. It arises from illegal or criminal activities, is not intended for the common life of the spouses or their joint business operations, and does not reflect the mutual consent of both spouses; therefore, it does not meet the criteria set forth in Article 1064.

Second, the loan was not used for the common living expenses of the family. Gambling proceeds and drug money were used by your spouse for personal illegal activities; they were not converted into family assets such as a house or savings, nor were they spent on the family’s daily expenses, and thus have no connection to your life.

Third, even if the creditor asserts joint liability, the burden of proof rests with the creditor. The creditor must prove that the funds were used for the couple’s common living expenses or joint business operations, or that you participated in the borrowing or subsequently ratified the loan; otherwise, the court will not uphold the creditor’s claim.

However, it is important to objectively point out a risk: in certain cases, one spouse may indeed have a gambling or drug‑addiction problem, but if the non‑debtor spouse cannot provide direct evidence that the funds were used for gambling or drug use, the court may still rule that the loan constitutes joint marital debt. It is evident that the preservation of evidence is extremely important.

also reminds a special situation: if the spouse borrows money in the name of the business jointly run by the husband and wife, or if you provide a guarantee and sign the contract, it is another matter, which may fall into the joint debt or guarantee responsibility, which needs to be analyzed in combination with specific materials, and can not be simply described by the sentence "gambling debt does not need to be repaid.

4. What should I do if I’ve already repaid the other party?

If the money has already been used to repay your spouse’s debt, can it still be recovered? It depends on two different scenarios.

Scenario 1: The debt being repaid on behalf of the spouse is an illegal debt, such as gambling debt or drug debt. This type of debt is not protected by law, and you are not legally obligated to repay it. Since the payment has already been made voluntarily, a claim for its return by the lender typically lacks legal basis—regarding illegal debts, courts generally do not support any party’s request for restitution based on such debts. Therefore, a more practical approach is to raise a timely defense at the stage of being sued to avoid being held jointly and severally liable, rather than paying first and then seeking recourse.

Scenario 2: The loan in question is, in fact, the other party’s personal and lawful debt—such as a regular loan taken out in their own name for their own personal matters—and you, acting on the notion that “husband and wife are one,” have paid it off on their behalf. In such a situation, you have effectively paid off a debt that should have been borne by the other party personally, and you may seek reimbursement from your spouse based on your internal agreement. If the matter proceeds to divorce, this payment on behalf of the other party may also be raised as a claim in the divorce proceedings.

If the court has already ruled that you bear joint and several liability for gambling debts or drug-related debts, you can still protect your rights by filing an appeal or applying for a retrial. Article 35 of the (I) for the Interpretation of Marriage and Family of the Civil Code stipulates that if the divorce agreement or the effective judgment, ruling, or mediation statement of the people's court has dealt with the division of the husband and wife's property, the creditor still has the right to claim the joint debt of the husband and wife. Rights: After one party assumes the responsibility for the repayment of the joint debts of the husband and wife, the people's court shall support it. This rule has a dual implication: the portion that constitutes joint debt may be repaid first, with recourse then sought from the other party; as for the portion that does not constitute joint debt, you are not obligated to bear it in the first place.

5. How should a debtor respond to a lawsuit filed by the creditor?

When sued by a creditor, the most important thing is not to panic and not to default on the court appearance. The crux of the entire matter can be summed up in one sentence: it is the creditor who asserts that this loan constitutes a joint debt of the spouses; the burden of proof rests with the creditor.

For a creditor to hold you jointly and severally liable for repayment, it must at least prove one of the following three things: that the debt was used for the couple’s common household expenses; that it was used for the couple’s joint business operations; or that you participated in the borrowing or subsequently ratified the loan. Merely proving that “the loan was incurred during the marriage” is not sufficient.

Accordingly, you should structure your defense around the arguments that “the debt is unrelated to family life” and that “the funds were used for personal illegal activities such as gambling or drug use,” with a particular focus on securing evidence of the following categories:

• Funds flow: Bank transfer records, as well as WeChat and Alipay transaction histories—examine where the funds were transferred from the lender’s account to determine whether they went directly to gambling platforms, gambling settlement accounts, or individuals involved in drug-related activities.
• Purpose of the loan: The stated purpose of the loan in the promissory note, chat records, and call recordings, as well as whether the lender was aware of the intended use.
• Spouse’s income and spending habits: Salary income and spending records indicate that, over the long term, the spouse has not contributed to household expenses yet has made unusually large expenditures.
• Household expenditure situation: Specify who bears the family’s daily living expenses and whether there are any significant expenditures, in order to demonstrate that this loan is unrelated to the household.
• Your lack of knowledge: Where were you when the loan was taken out? Were you aware of it? Did you sign anything, or did you subsequently ratify it?

If the creditor asserts “joint production and operation,” you may also raise defenses by examining who the operating entity is, to whom the operating profits accrue, and whether you actually participated in the business operations.

Another important procedural point: during the enforcement phase, a non-debtor spouse may not be added as an enforced party. The Supreme People’s Court has repeatedly emphasized the principle of “separation of adjudication and enforcement”—joint debts of spouses may only be determined in the trial proceedings and not in the enforcement proceedings. In other words, a creditor may not, during the enforcement proceedings, directly designate the non‑sued spouse as an enforced party; if such designation is made, you have the right to file an objection to the enforcement.

6. Other associated risks: What if the joint property is squandered?

You are not legally obligated to repay your spouse’s gambling or drug debts, but there is another risk you should proactively guard against: your spouse may be recklessly squandering the couple’s joint assets—withdrawn savings, sold real estate and vehicles, or misappropriated equity proceeds—in order to finance their gambling or drug use. The debt itself may not directly involve you, but once the money is spent, your family’s assets are genuinely reduced, and the loss is real—down to the last penny.

In such circumstances, Article 1066 of the Civil Code provides a remedy: during the subsistence of the marital relationship, if one party engages in acts that seriously impair the interests of the couple’s joint property—such as concealing, transferring, selling, damaging, or squandering the joint property, or fabricating joint debts—the other party may petition the people’s court to divide the joint property. In other words, you don’t have to wait until after the divorce to request a division of the marital property and promptly minimize your losses.

If the parties ultimately proceed to divorce, Article 1092 of the Civil Code provides that if one party conceals, transfers, sells, damages, or squanders marital property, or fabricates marital debts in an attempt to encroach upon the other party’s property, that party may receive a smaller share or no share at all when dividing the marital property during the divorce. If you only discover these circumstances after the divorce, you can still file a lawsuit to seek a re‑division of the marital property.

Furthermore, “fabricating joint debts” also warrants vigilance. If your spouse colludes with others to fabricate a false promissory note in an attempt to hold you jointly liable for repayment, you may argue that the debt should not be recognized. Similarly, if they fabricate joint debts with the intent to unlawfully appropriate your property, you may also request a smaller share or no share of the marital assets during the divorce property division.

7. Will these debts affect the divorce?

Let’s first address a common question: Will debts incurred by one spouse—such as gambling or drug debts—affect the divorce itself? Strictly speaking, the standard for granting a divorce is whether the marital relationship has indeed broken down; the nature of the debt is a separate issue.

However, behaviors such as gambling and drug use may be considered significant factual evidence in determining that the marital relationship has broken down. If one party engages in prolonged gambling or drug use and refuses to reform despite repeated admonishments, thereby seriously disrupting family life, the other party’s assertion that the marital relationship has broken down and their request for divorce may be taken into consideration in practice.In other words, gambling debts and drug debts do not need to be borne by you, but the objective fact that your spouse is contaminated with gambling and drug abuse can be a legitimate reason for you to advocate divorce.

In terms of property division, the squandering caused by gambling and drug abuse is the damage to the common property of husband and wife. Articles 1066 and 1092 provide you with two tools: "division within marriage" and "division within divorce. You can argue that the common property squandered by the spouse due to gambling and drug abuse should be taken into account in the division, with the squandering party sharing less. In addition, one party has bad habits of gambling and drug abuse, which is not conducive to the healthy growth of children, and may also be one of the factors to be measured when determining the custody of children.

8. practical advice and evidence

One is timely discovery. If the spouse has signs of gambling and drug use, find and deal with them as early as possible. Pay attention to the abnormal decrease of family deposits, abnormal cash withdrawal of bank cards, unfamiliar loan software and transfer records in mobile phones, frequent going out and night activities.

Second, promptly secure the evidence. After discovery, pay attention to keep the clues of the other party's participation in gambling and drug abuse, including photos, audio recordings, chat records, and whereabouts of funds; keep the relevant materials of the loan to avoid "talking without proof" in the future ". If necessary, report to the public security organs and strive to obtain processing records.

Third, avoid joint debt and joint signing. Don't sign your spouse's IOU or loan contract, don't be a guarantor, don't borrow money for the other party in your own name, and don't use WeChat, SMS and other methods to "ratify" afterwards ". Sometimes a casual "I'll find a way to pay it back" can be recognized as a ratification and pull yourself into debt.

Fourth, respond to the lawsuit promptly upon being served. If you are sued by creditors, you must answer the lawsuit and not be absent. A default judgment may very well result in you being held liable without your knowledge. The defense is organized around the point that the burden of proof is on the creditor, and the clues that the debt is used for gambling and drug use are submitted to the court.

Five is to do a good job of property protection. To do a good job in the necessary protection of the common property of the family, when necessary, through the division within marriage (article 1066) or divorce (article 1092) to stop the loss.

9. Frequently Asked Questions

1. If the creditor sues me for the gambling debts owed by my spouse, do I have to pay them back?

In principle, it is not necessary. Gambling debt is not a joint debt of the husband and wife. However, it should be noted that in individual cases, if the purpose of the debt is not clear, there may also be adverse results for the non-borrowing party, the key depends on whether you can use the "money for gambling" line of proof clearly. The premise of all this is that the burden of proof is first and foremost on the creditor's side.

2. I signed it, but I didn't know what my spouse borrowed it for. Do you want it back?

As long as you sign the debit note and the loan contract, it generally constitutes a "joint signature", which will be recognized as the debt based on the expression of common intention and belongs to the joint debt of husband and wife. So don't easily sign and guarantee your spouse's loan certificate.

3. The lender is a card player, knowing that borrowing money is to gamble, and I have borrowed it. Do I have to pay it back?

No need. Lenders know in advance or should know that the borrower's loan for gambling and other illegal and criminal activities still provide loans, private lending contracts are invalid, claims are not protected by law, let alone by you to bear the common debt.

4. I have already paid part of the gambling debt for my spouse, can I get it back?

It is usually difficult to claim the return from the lender-the illegal debt itself is not protected by law, and the court generally does not support the return request based on the illegal debt. If you have paid off your personal legal debt on behalf of the other party, you can claim compensation from your spouse and deal with it in the event of divorce.

5. Does not divorce prevent spouses from continuing to squander common property?

Sure. Article 1066 of the Civil Code stipulates that if one party hides, transfers, sells, destroys, destroys, squanders the joint property of husband and wife or forges the joint debt of husband and wife, which seriously damages the interests of the joint property of husband and wife, the other party may ask the proposal to divide the common property, stop loss in time, and do not have to wait for divorce.

6. At the time of divorce, will my spouse's debts due to gambling and drug taking be counted on me?

No. This type of debt is not a joint debt of the husband and wife and is borne by the spouse personally in the event of divorce. On the other hand, because gambling and drug abuse squander the common property of the husband and wife, you can claim less or no division of the property when dividing the property.

10. Practical Legal Insights

When the spouse is in debt for gambling and taking drugs outside, the client is most likely to be caught by two things: one is to sign the name on the debit note out of affection, or to send a sentence of "I recognize"; the other is to repay the money for the other party first if he can't bear the debt. Both of these practices will significantly change your original favorable situation, as long as you have a joint signature or after-the-fact recognition of the meaning, the debt may be relied on the common debt. Therefore, we should keep two bottom lines in the first place: unfamiliar IOUs will not be signed, no supplementary signatures will be made, no unauthorized promises will be made at the door of debt collection, and no advance payment will be made.

If the creditor takes you to court, the direction is not to rush to prove that you don't know, but to push the burden of proof back. A large loan that exceeds the daily needs of the family, the creditor must prove that it is used for the husband and wife to live together or to produce and operate together, and if it cannot be proved, it cannot be repaid with you. What you have to do is to organize materials around this link: prove that you are not involved in borrowing, that the money has not entered the family expenses, and that the money actually flows to gambling or drug abuse, such as the other party's transfer records, chat content, and punishment materials related to gambling and drugs. You can also pay attention to whether the lender is closely related to the other party and whether there is a real delivery certificate, which is often the first place to loosen.

If you have been sued, you can take the initiative to apply to participate in the other party's debt litigation as a third party, and find out the facts under your own eyes, instead of waiting for the judgment to take effect before responding passively. The money that has been repaid for the other party, don't take it as a matter of course, you can claim the return to your spouse in another case, or deduct it from the property that should be divided. At the same time, we should pay attention back to the common property: the risk of gambling and drug debts is not only in the debt itself, but also in the other party to fill the hole with the common property, find the signs to fix the clues as soon as possible, if necessary, through the marital division or property preservation stop loss, do not wait until the family savings are emptied to start.