What civil rights and obligations remain after divorce?

Many people often believe that after a couple divorces, the rights and obligations related to their marriage also terminate with the dissolution of the marital legal relationship. Based on this idea, many parties easily abandon the rights that they should have enjoyed from their former spouse after the divorce. In fact, according to legal provisions, the other civil legal relationships arising from the marriage still exist after the divorce, and one former spouse still enjoys certain civil rights and bears certain civil obligations towards the other. After divorce, one cannot unilaterally change the child's surname. Case: After Ms. Li divorced Mr. Qian, their four-year-old son, Xiao Long, was raised by Ms. Li according to the divorce agreement. One year later, Ms. Li...

Many people often believe that after a couple divorces, the rights and obligations related to the marriage between the original spouses also terminate with the dissolution of the marital legal relationship. Based on this idea, many parties easily abandon the rights that the original spouse should have after the divorce. In fact, according to legal provisions, the other civil legal relationships arising from the marriage still exist after the divorce, and one original spouse still enjoys certain civil rights and bears certain civil obligations towards the other.

After divorce, one cannot unilaterally change the child's surname.

Case: After Ms. Li divorced Mr. Qian, their four-year-old son, Xiao Long, was raised by Ms. Li according to the divorce agreement. A year later, Ms. Li remarried Mr. Wu, who proposed that to deepen the father-son relationship, Xiao Long should change his surname to Wu. This request was strongly opposed by Mr. Qian, and Ms. Li compromised, asking Xiao Long to keep his mother's surname, which Mr. Qian still could not accept.

Analysis: The change in marital relationships may lead to demands for a re-selection of the child's surname. However, the change of surname should not be decided unilaterally by either the father or the mother. According to the "Reply of the Supreme People's Court on the Issue of Changing Children's Surnames," it is inappropriate for one party to unilaterally decide to change the child's name after the parents' divorce. Therefore, after the divorce, regardless of whether the child is raised by the father or the mother, the child remains the child of both parents, and the guardianship responsibilities of the parents do not cease due to the divorce. If one party requests to change the name of a minor child, it should be agreed upon with the other party, or wait until the child grows up to decide for themselves.

Within one year after divorce, the innocent party can request damages.

Case: In 2000, Ms. Tang married Mr. Chen. Shortly after the marriage, Mr. Chen often physically assaulted her due to suspicions of infidelity. In October 2006, Mr. Chen filed for divorce in court, and Ms. Tang eventually agreed to the divorce. In January 2007, after being reminded by others, Ms. Tang sued in court, requesting Mr. Chen to compensate her for mental damages of 50,000 yuan due to domestic violence.

Analysis: Regarding the statute of limitations for claiming damages, Article 30 of the "Interpretation (I) on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China" makes a distinction. The innocent party as the plaintiff in the divorce lawsuit should raise the claim for damages at the same time as the divorce lawsuit; the innocent party as the defendant in the divorce lawsuit can file a separate lawsuit for damages within one year after the divorce. Therefore, within one year after the divorce, the innocent party as the defendant in the divorce lawsuit can request the court to rule that the original spouse compensates for the material and mental damages caused by the divorce fault. In the above case, Ms. Tang is claiming compensation for the mental damages she suffered, and the court should consider factors such as the consequences of the damage and the defendant's ability to bear it to determine the amount Mr. Chen should compensate.

Within two years after divorce, if hidden joint property is discovered, a request for re-division can be made.

Case: Mr. Zhang and Ms. Zhou registered their marriage in 1996. On June 4, 2007, Mr. Zhang filed a lawsuit in court requesting a divorce, and the court granted the divorce. Six months after the divorce, Mr. Zhang discovered that Ms. Zhou had secretly hidden a car that had not been legally divided, so he filed another lawsuit requesting the division of this property.

Analysis: At the time of divorce, some parties may use illegal means to hide joint property in order to obtain more assets. In this regard, Article 47 of the Marriage Law states: "At the time of divorce, if one party hides, transfers, sells, damages joint property, or forges debts in an attempt to occupy the other party's property, when dividing joint property, the party who hides, transfers, sells, damages joint property, or forges debts may receive less or no share. After the divorce, if the other party discovers such behavior, they can file a lawsuit in the people's court to request a re-division of the joint property." According to this provision, if one party discovers the other party's aforementioned behavior, they can request the court to re-divide the hidden joint property. According to Article 31 of the "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China," the statute of limitations for requesting a re-division of joint property is two years, calculated from the date the party discovers it.