A marital property agreement (夫妻财产约定) is the Chinese legal term for any written agreement between spouses about who owns their property. Under Article 1065 of the PRC Civil Code, spouses may agree that property acquired before or during the marriage belongs to each of them separately, to both jointly, or partly separately and partly jointly. The agreement must be in writing and binds both spouses. When signed before the wedding it is usually called a prenuptial agreement; when signed during the marriage, a postnuptial agreement.
Why it matters
Many couples only think about property arrangements after they are married, for example when one spouse starts a business, receives an inheritance, or buys property with help from parents. A postnuptial agreement can clarify ownership at that point. But agreements to transfer a specific asset from one spouse to the other, such as adding a spouse's name to a flat, raise special issues: courts may treat an unperformed promise to transfer as a gift that can in some circumstances be revoked before registration. Interpretation II (2025) also addresses property promised in marriage or loyalty agreements. Careful drafting and timely registration make the difference.
How it works in practice
Five years into their marriage, a Chinese husband set up a technology company in Guangzhou. His Australian wife agreed in a written marital property agreement that his shares would be his separate property, while the family home would be jointly owned in equal shares, and both would update the property certificate within 30 days. They completed the registration promptly, avoiding a later dispute about whether the promise had been performed.
Common mistakes
- Relying on verbal understandings or chat messages instead of a signed agreement
- Promising to transfer property without actually completing registration
- Assuming the agreement binds creditors who did not know about it
- Using vague phrases such as "the house belongs to the wife" without identifying it
- Signing a document one spouse cannot read, which invites claims of misunderstanding