Temporary separations allow wealthy couples to sink more money into the urban property market.

The News Lens
Date: 2017/12/31
By: Shi Fulong

In China, like many other countries across the world, divorce rates are rising. Here, though, many couples arrive at their local registry office with smiles on their faces. Why? They’ve come to arrange a “fake divorce” — one that legally ends their marriage, but by no means signals the end of their relationship. Indeed, many such couples would choose to remarry later.

As a lawyer, I have handled my fair share of fake divorces in recent years. Some couples choose divorce in order to evade debt obligations. Others separate because the local government has put their home up for demolition, and by splitting up, the couple can re-register as two separate households and thereby receive more money in compensation. However, the majority of couples who get a fake divorce do so to circumvent regulations limiting the number of properties they can buy.

Distinctions between fake divorces and “authentic” ones — those that occur due to marital breakdown — don’t exist in the eyes of Chinese law. Before ending their marriages, couples often seek legal advice in order to ensure that each partner will commit to remarriage when the time is right.    [FULL  STORY]