Spouses could get nothing if they transfer or destroy joint assets before divorce, top Chinese court rules

China’s Supreme People’s Court – the nation’s highest court – has issued new guidelines for divorce cases saying thata husband or wife could end up with nothing if they transfer, hide, sell or destroy joint property before or during the proceedings, mainland media reports.

A new rule, issued in the past few days, states that a spouse that takes actions including transferring, selling, hiding or destroying shared property, or makes a false claim about debts in order to secure the other person’s valuables, could be awarded less – or even nothing – in the final settlement, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

The guidelines would more effectively punish wrongdoing that targeted joint assets, and also better protect the legal rights of family members, the report said.

Some Weibo users expressed their support for the new ruling.

One user wrote : “The cost of cheating in marriage is too low in China; this kind of rule should have been established long ago.”