After a divorce, can you deny the divorce agreement?
Author | Hongyan Lawyer Team, Lawyer Wang Ting
Divorce is not a new word today. With the improvement of the level of economic development, the improvement of women's education level and the increase of employment participation and other factors, the divorce rate remains high. When negotiating divorce, it is often the case that one party agrees to pay the other a large amount of compensation, or to give property to the child to provide security for the growth of the child.
So, after going through the divorce formalities, can one party renege on the agreement on property distribution?
01 Divorce agreement cannot be determined and cannot be revoked
Case 1
Zhou (the man) and Ye (the woman) got married on September 10, 2015. After marriage, they had no children, no common property and common debts. They divorced on April 25, 2016 due to emotional breakdown. At the time of divorce, both parties signed a divorce agreement agreeing that the man promised to voluntarily pay the woman a total of 3.50 million yuan in 10 installments, and the last installment of 200,0
00yuan was paid in June 2021.
After the divorce, Zhou only paid 355,000 yuan to Ye and no longer fulfilled the divorce agreement. Ye sued the court for the remaining financial compensation.
The man advocates
Zhou believes that the agreement to pay financial compensation to the woman is a gift. Now that his economic situation has deteriorated, it has seriously affected his production, operation or family life, and he can no longer perform the gift obligation, and advocates to revoke the gift. And he decided to resign in October 2017, informed Ye of the situation, and informed Ye that he would no longer perform the divorce agreement. By May 7, 2021, Ye had filed a lawsuit, which had exceeded the 3-year statute of limitations.
woman advocates
Ye did not recognize this, and he believed that the agreement on the identity relationship was not subject to the provisions of the Civil Code gift contract and could not be revoked. And the divorce agreement clarified the payment time, and the last payment was in 2021, so the statute of limitations should be calculated from the last payment time.
court hearing
1. The provisions on the disposal of property and debts in the divorce agreement signed by the parties are legally binding on both men and women. And Zhou has no evidence to prove that Ye was fraudulent or coerced when signing the divorce agreement, and the divorce agreement is legal and valid.
2. The agreement on gifts in the divorce agreement does not constitute a gift contract in the general sense. The divorce agreement has strict identity exclusivity. The agreed content of Zhou's payment to Ye between Ye and Zhou is an important part of the divorce agreement between the two parties. It is the result of the unanimous agreement of both parties after comprehensively weighing the interests of feelings and property. It is the performance of the obligation of divorce relief and does not constitute a gift.
In summary, the divorce agreement is not a gift contract, so the court did not accept Zhou's defense opinion that the gift should be revoked and no longer performed. It was judged to pay the remaining economic compensation of 3145,000 yuan to Ye.
(2022) Beijing 02 Minzhi No. 14368
Case 2
The woman Liu and the man Yan were originally husband and wife. The two registered their marriage on November 2, 2009, and had a son Yan Moumou on February 25, 2009 before the marriage was registered.
On June 20, 2017, Yan and ******gned the "Divorce Agreement" and registered their divorce. The "Divorce Agreement" stipulates that a house in Chaoyang District, a real estate under Yan's name, will be owned by Yan Moumou after divorce, and the owner of the property, Yan Moumou, will manage it on his behalf until Yan Moumou can own the real estate according to laws and regulations, and the transfer fee will be shared equally by both parties. In this way, the real estate is rented out, and all the proceeds will be managed by Yan Moumou, and Yan Moumou will be at his own disposal when Yan Moumou is
18years old.
After going through the divorce procedures, the man reneged on the agreement on the ownership of the house, and the woman sued the court to request that the agreed house be transferred to Yan Moumou's name.
court hearing
When Liu and Yan registered for divorce, the "Divorce Agreement" signed by both parties expressed their true intentions. There was no coercion, fraud, or misunderstanding, nor did they violate the law. Therefore, the content of the "Divorce Agreement" shall be legally binding on both parties.
The agreement on the gift of property to a third party in the agreement is also based on the agreement reached by both parties for the purpose of dissolving the marriage relationship. In the case of dissolution of the marriage relationship, the donor should fulfill the agreed obligations in accordance with the divorce agreement. Therefore, Liu and Yan agreed in the "Divorce Agreement" that Yan would give the house in his personal name to his son Yan Moumou, which is no longer a general gift contract. After the dissolution of the marriage relationship between Liu and Yan, Yan should transfer the house involved in the case to Yan Moumou in accordance with the "Divorce Agreement".
(2022) Beijing 02 Minzai No. 133
A gift contract is a contract in which the donor gives his property to the donee free of charge, and the donee expresses his acceptance of the gift. Except for the notarized or public welfare and moral gift contract, before the transfer of the right to the gift of property, the donator has the right to revoke the gift at any time according to law.
The divorce agreement is a comprehensive agreement reached by both husband and wife on the basis of full negotiation following pair of children support, property distribution, debt repayment and other issues after dissolution of marriage, which has both personal attributes and property attributes. The content of the agreement is an organic whole formed by both men and women after weighing and playing games for the purpose of divorce, and each part is the premise and result of each other.
The divorce agreement takes effect after both men and women go through the divorce registration formalities at the Civil Affairs Bureau. If one party reneges on a certain content and fails to perform it, it will destroy the integrity of the divorce agreement. At the same time, the agreement on the handling of property between the husband and wife in the divorce agreement, including the ownership of the common property by one party, the payment of financial compensation by one party to the other party, and the gift of personal or common property to minor children, etc., are all agreements reached by both parties for the purpose of dissolving the marriage relationship. Different from the nature of the general gift contract, in the case of dissolution of the marriage relationship, both parties shall perform the agreed obligations in accordance with the divorce agreement.
If one party reneges on the property disposal terms after achieving the purpose of divorce, there is subjective malice to deceive the other party into divorce and then occupy the property, violating the principle of good faith and infringing on the rights and interests of the other party or minor children.
Therefore, in view of the special personal attributes of the divorce agreement, the provisions of the divorce agreement signed by both men and women on the distribution of property and payment of expenses are legally binding on both parties, and neither party can revoke them unless there is evidence to prove that there was fraud or coercion at the time of signing the agreement. If one party fails to fulfill the obligations in the agreement regarding real estate transfer, payment of expenses, etc., the other party may appeal to the court for continued performance.
02 Failure to fulfill the transfer agreement in the divorce agreement in a timely manner, can it be ruled out?
When a couple divorces, the divorce agreement stipulates that the real estate registered in the names of one or both parties belongs to the children, but due to various reasons, the transfer procedures are not handled in time. Later, because one of the husband and wife owes debts, the creditor applies to enforce the house. Then, can the divorce agreement stipulate that the real estate belongs to the children to exclude the creditor's right to execute?
As a substantive enforcement remedy method, the basic spirit and purpose of enforcement objection is to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the relevant right holder that are sufficient to exclude enforcement. Whether the right holder enjoys civil rights and interests excluding enforcement needs to confirm whether the outsider has rights to the subject of enforcement, what kind of rights he enjoys, and the legal attributes of the civil rights of the applicant for enforcement. Therefore, the court will generally compare the formation time, content of the rights, nature and effectiveness of the rights, and the impact on the rights holder according to the specific circumstances of the case.
Parents agree in the divorce agreement that the real estate belongs to their children, although it does not directly produce the legal effect of the change of real rights, but the real estate is the common property of the parents during the marriage relationship or the pre-marital property of one party. When the marriage relationship is dissolved, both parties agree to belong to the children, which has the function of life security. Children enjoy the right to request the change of ownership of the agreed real estate to be registered in their names.
At the same time, compared with the creditor's claim for money, the child's claim for the house is more specific. For example, before the divorce, the child's rights are formed earlier than the creditor's money claim, and the property is no longer the personal property of the debtor when the money claim is formed. Even if enforcement is excluded, it will not have an adverse impact on the realization of the claim. Based on the above factors, it is generally believed that the child's claim has priority over the creditor's general money claim, so it can be excluded from enforcement.
Case 3
Wang and Ning were originally husband and wife, and the two parties registered their divorce at the Dengzhou Civil Affairs Bureau on October 25, 2018. The divorce agreement stipulated that the common real estate of the two parties after marriage was four: a house in Xingfuli Community, a house in Fudu Garden, a house in Fortune World, and a house in Fortune Famous Family. The property rights of the house were jointly owned by the three legitimate children (Wang 1, Wang 2, and Wang 3), each accounting for one-third of the property rights.
Due to the fact that the property is under mortgage, the transfer procedures have not been completed.
In 2020, Wang was sued to the court due to a dispute over a lease contract with Fang and He, the court heard the judgment that Wang paid 900,000 yuan to Fang and He, but Wang failed to fulfill the judgment and was enforced. During the execution process, Wang 1, Wang 2, and Wang 3 raised an objection to the execution and requested to lift the seizure of the house, which was rejected by the court.
Wang Mou1, Wang Mou2, and Wang Mou3 then filed a lawsuit against execution by an outsider to the court.
court hearing
The "Divorce Agreement" was reached voluntarily by both Wang and Ning, and the content does not violate the mandatory provisions of laws and administrative regulations, and the two have dissolved their marriage in accordance with the agreement and approved by the administrative organ. The divorce agreement is legal and valid.
Regarding whether Wang Mou1, Wang Mou2, and Wang Mou3 enjoy civil rights and interests sufficient to exclude enforcement of the houses involved in the case. First of all, from the perspective of the time of establishment, Wang Mou1, Wang Mou2, and Wang Mou3 enjoy the right to register the change of ownership of the houses involved in the case in their names earlier than the monetary claims formed by Fang and He due to disputes with Wang's lease contract.
Second, from the content point of view, the claims of Wang 1, Wang 2, and Wang 3 are claims against the house in dispute, while the claims of Fang and He are monetary claims and do not point to specific property. Third, from the nature point of view, the monetary claims between Fang, He and Wang are personal debts that occur after the dissolution of the marriage relationship between Ning and Wang.
At the time of the creditor's rights and debts, the house involved in the case had essentially ceased to be Wang's responsible property due to the agreement between Wang and Ning. Fourth, from the root of the occurrence, the house involved in the case was the joint property of the husband and wife obtained during the existence of the marriage relationship between Wang and Ning. When the marriage relationship between Wang and Ning was dissolved, it was agreed that the house involved in the case would be owned by the three children, and the property had the function of providing living security for the three children.
Compared with the monetary claims of Fang and He, the claim rights enjoyed by Wang's children have certain priority in ethics.
Therefore, it should be determined that Wang 1, Wang 2, and Wang 3 enjoy civil rights and interests sufficient to exclude enforcement of the houses involved in the case.
However, it should be noted that in this case, the judgments of various courts are not uniform.
In judicial practice, some courts hold that the divorce agreement stipulates that the husband and wife's real estate belongs to the children as a special gift contract, which is a promise contract. Even if the real estate has not been transferred, the children can also enjoy the right to request the transfer of the real estate according to the relevant provisions. In combination with other factors, the execution of the debt after the gift can be excluded (reference case [2021] Supreme Court Minsheng Application No. 4533).
However, some courts held that the establishment of the gift relationship must be subject to the delivery of the gift. Although the divorce agreement sets benefits for the children, whether the benefits are realized depends on whether the parent/mother actually fulfills the property rights transfer obligation of the gift property. Before the property is transferred, the gift relationship is not established, and the children do not have ownership of the property, which is not enough to rule out enforcement (reference case [2018] Supreme Court Civil Application No. 6053).
The divorce agreement signed by both men and women through negotiation on the distribution of property is binding on both parties. If there are no legal reasons such as fraud and coercion, neither party may go back on it. However, it should be noted that although the terms of the divorce agreement have legal effect, there is still a possibility that the mandatory execution of the real estate cannot be ruled out when the house transfer registration is not completed. Therefore, the transfer procedures should be handled as soon as possible to avoid relevant risks.
Lawyer Profile
Lawyer Wang Ting
Practicing lawyer of
Focusing on civil and commercial legal affairs and corporate legal affairs, he is good at handling contracts, labor disputes, torts and other legal affairs, and has rich theoretical research and practical experience.
Team Profile
Hongyan lawyer team
The Hongyan lawyer team is headed by lawyer Liu Hong, and is composed of lawyer Min Na, lawyer Chen Ruitan, lawyer Wang Ting, and lawyer Zhou Gaofeng as the backbone of the business. The team members are handsome and have their own advantages; their business literacy is stable and solid, and they have profound experience in the industry. They abide by professional ethics, focus on business practice, integrate knowledge and practice, and constantly achieve far-reaching goals.
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