1.New Obligation to inform of serious illness

Article 1053

If one of the parties suffers from a serious disease, he shall truthfully inform the other party of such disease prior to marriage registration; where such information is not truthfully provided, the other party may apply to the people’s court to annul the marriage.

The application to annul a marriage shall be made within one year from the date when the party knows or should have known of the cause for the annulment.

Article 1054

A void or annulled marriage has no legal effect ab initio, and neither party to such a marriage shall have any rights or duties arising from the marital relationship.Property acquired during the cohabitation period shall be disposed of by mutual agreement. Where the parties fail to reach such an agreement, the people’s court shall adjudicate the case in compliance with the principle of favoring the no-fault party.

When disposing of the property acquired during a marriage which has been voided due to bigamy, the proprietary rights and interests of the parties to the lawful marriage may not be infringed upon. The provisions of this Code on parents and children shall apply to the children born by the parties to a void or annulled marriage.

Where a marriage is void or annulled, the no-fault party has the right to request for damages.

2.The right of daily Household Agency for husband and wife shall be added

Article 1060

A civil juristic act performed by one of the spouses to meet the daily needs of the family is binding on both spouses unless otherwise agreed between the third person and the spouse performing the act.

Restrictions imposed by the spouses on the scope of civil juristic acts that may be performed by one of the spouses may not be asserted against a bona fide counterparty.

3.NEW 'CO-SIGNING' clause for marital debt

Article 1064

Debts incurred according to the common expression of intent of both spouses, such as a debt jointly signed by both spouses and a debt signed by one spouse and subsequently ratified by the other spouse, and debts incurred by one of the spouses in his own name during the marriage to meet the daily needs of the family, constitute community debts.

A debt incurred by one of the spouses in his own name during the marriage in excess of the daily needs of the family is not a community debt, unless the creditor can prove that such debt is incurred for the purpose of providing for both spouses’daily life or for the production and operation jointly conducted by both spouses, or such debt is incurred according to the common expression of intent of both spouses.

4.A new cooling-off period for divorce will be introduced

Article 1077

Where either party is unwilling to divorce, he may withdraw the divorce registration application within thirty days after such an application is received by the marriage registration authority.

Within 30 days after expiration of the period provided in the preceding paragraph, both parties shall personally visit the marriage registration authority to apply for issuance of a divorce certificate, and failing to do so will cause the divorce registration application to be deemed as withdrawn.

5.New Statutory circumstances for divorce

Article 1079

Where the husband or the wife unilaterally petitions for divorce, a relevant organization may offer mediation, or such person may file for divorce directly with the people’s court.

The people’s court shall, during the divorce trial, offer a mediation, and grant divorce if mutual affection no longer exists between the two parties and the mediation fails.

A divorce shall be granted where any of the following circumstances exists and the mediation fails:

(1) one spouse commits bigamy or cohabitates with another person;

(2) one spouse commits domestic violence or maltreats or deserts a family member;

(3) one spouse habitually commits acts such as gambling, drug abuse, or the like, and refuses to correct such behavior despite of repeated warnings;

(4) the spouses have been separated for no less than two years due to marital discord; or

(5) there exists any other circumstance under which mutual affection no longer exists between the spouses.

Where one spouse is declared to be missing and the other spouse files for divorce, such divorce shall be granted.Where, after a judgment has been made against divorce and the spouses have been separated for one more year, such divorce shall be granted where one of the spouses files again for divorce with the people’s court.