Separate Property in a China Marriage

Separate property is a statutory list — putting it in a joint account can still mix it.

Civil Code separate property typically covers pre-marital property, compensation for personal injury, items of daily use, and gifts or inheritances determined to be for one spouse only. A valid prenup or marital-property agreement can expand or reallocate. ‘Kept in my parents’ name’ is a fact pattern, not a magic shield. This page does not decide percentages on a specific apartment.

The classification screen

4 questions before you choose the route.

This page identifies the right question and evidence. It does not determine the legal outcome on a reader’s facts.

Is it on the statutory list?

Pre-marital, personal gift, injury comp.

List

Was it mixed?

Joint account, mortgage, equity.

Mix

Is there a written agreement?

Prenup or mid-marriage.

Deal

Who has the paper trail?

Bank and deed history.

Proof

Working rule: Civil Code separate property typically covers pre-marital property, compensation for personal injury, items of daily use, and gifts or inheritances determined to be for one spouse only.

What changes the answer

The signal ledger.

These facts move the question beyond a label and into a product, money-flow and control analysis.

Signal

Ask the operating question

Why it changes the route

Parents’ WeChat transfer

No gift letter.

Hard to prove ‘to one spouse only’.

House bought day after wedding

Called pre-marital because talks started earlier.

Acquisition date still matters.

Crypto wallet

Assumed untraceable therefore separate.

Courts still characterise it.

Prepare before you escalate

Bring a compact evidence docket—not a pitch deck.

Give a compliance team or counsel the operating facts that reveal the perimeter.

01Pre-marital statementsDated account and deed records.

02Gift/inheritance instrumentsWills, gift letters naming one person.

03Mixing mapWhere the money went next.

Common confusions

Questions people ask before they build.

Short answers for orientation. The right result can change with the service model and current rules.

Is inheritance during marriage separate?

If left to one spouse alone, generally yes. If left to both, or mixed, the answer changes.

Can we convert separate into community?

Yes, by agreement or by mixing in ways the court treats as transmutation-like facts.

Primary authorities

Reviewed sources support orientation, not a fact-specific assessment.

PRC Civil Code (NPC laws database)

Supreme People’s Court

Gov.cn

National laws database (NPC)