23-year-old man in Shanghai marries a 36-year-old divorced mother, transfers 99% of a million-yuan property to his wife, then faces a "quick divorce," and the court rules.

Zhaojuling, reporter with Xinmin Evening News

A chance encounter that began with a “ride-hailing car”

Ultimately evolved into

A divorce property dispute

Involving nearly RMB 10 million in real estate assets

Recently

the Shanghai Changning District People’s Court

(hereinafter referred to as the “Changning Court”)

disclosed a case

of a divorce-after-property dispute

that had been previously heard

▽

Plaintiff Li Lin (a pseudonym), less than half a year after her divorce, holding a property ownership certificate in hand, sued her ex-husband Liu Liang (a pseudonym), seeking to divide a piece of real estate worth nearly RMB 10 million—while the certificate clearly states: “Li Lin, 99% ownership share.” The court ultimately ruled that the property belongs to Liu Liang, but Liu Liang must pay Li Lin a house valuation buyout of RMB 500,000, and Li Lin must cooperate with the property-ownership change registration procedures.

Born out of getting to know each other through a “ride-hailing car”

In March 2018, 36-year-old Li Lin and 23-year-old Liu Liang got to know each other through a “ride-hailing car.” At the time, Li Lin worked in real estate-related work and, after her divorce, lived with her child; Liu Liang worked as a salesperson at a securities firm. After knowing each other for a month, the two established a romantic relationship. In January 2019, the two registered their marriage, but did not hold a wedding, and neither met the other’s parents. In the early period after marriage, the two still each lived at their parents’ homes and did not live together.

Liu Liang’s parents are ordinary employees with relatively modest incomes. Years ago, their old house was demolished, and the resulting two properties were the family’s main assets. Of the larger one, then worth nearly RMB 10 million, it had been registered in the names of Liu Liang and his parents, and the whole family lived there.

After marriage, Li Lin proposed that, so their child could attend a better school, she wanted to move her own and her child’s household registration to Liu Liang’s home, and ideally to hold some share in the property at Liu Liang’s house. To show how much she valued this relationship, Liu Liang persuaded his own parents to transfer the property worth nearly RMB 10 million in their names to him first.

In July 2019, after Liu Liang’s parents signed a gift contract, and without informing his parents, he registered 99% of the ownership share of the property under Li Lin’s name, keeping only 1% for himself. The taxes and fees of RMB 119,000+ required for the transfer were paid by Li Lin.

However, this marriage did not last long. The two began renting a place to live together at the end of 2019, and separated after only six months. In September 2020, Li Lin started her first divorce lawsuit. Because Liu Liang disagreed to divorce, and because the two did not meet the statutory divorce conditions, in January 2021 the court ruled not to grant the divorce. In February 2022, Li Lin filed for divorce again, her stance firm. In July of the same year, through court mediation, the two voluntarily dissolved their marriage relationship. What was unexpected was that in both divorce lawsuits, Li Lin never mentioned property division.

How to divide a property worth nearly RMB 10 million

Not long after the dissolution of their marriage, Li Lin—holding that property ownership certificate showing that she held a 99% share—filed a third lawsuit against Liu Liang, asking the court to divide the property proportionally.

At the trial, both sides confirmed that the property’s current market value is nearly RMB 10 million. How the property should be divided between Li Lin and Liu Liang became the focus of dispute in this case.

Li Lin argued that the 99% ownership share registered in the record was the promise of “solving the marital home” made by Liu Liang, and the gift had already been completed. Liu Liang, however, said that when asked about the ownership ratio at the real estate registration center, he did not think deeply; it was more of an impulsive gesture to “show his loyalty.”

After hearing the case, the court did not support Li Lin’s request to divide the property according to the registered shares. It mainly considered the following:

A gift made in connection with a marriage differs from ordinary commercial gifts. Such gifts usually carry the purpose of maintaining feelings and stabilizing the family; they cannot simply be handled according to the registered share. Instead, they should be comprehensively considered together with factors such as the duration of the marriage, the reasons for divorce, and the parties’ respective fault.

The disputed property originated from Liu Liang’s parents, and Li Lin made no contribution to the property. The property was obtained from the demolition of Liu Liang’s parents’ old house. Liu Liang was only 11 years old at the time of the demolition, and after marrying, Li Lin did not contribute money toward the property, did not make mortgage repayments, and did not perform renovations.

The duration of the parties’ marriage relationship was short, and a stable marital relationship had not been established. The marriage lasted about three and a half years in total, but the actual cohabitation was only about six months. No children were born. Soon after marriage, the couple separated and filed for divorce.

If the property were divided entirely according to the registered share, it would lead to a serious imbalance in the interests of both parties. Based on the property value, Li Lin would receive nearly RMB 10 million, while Liu Liang’s share would be negligible. The court held that this would be grossly unfair to Liu Liang and his parents.

In summary, based on the principle of fairness, and taking into comprehensive account factors such as the source of the property, contribution level, duration of the marriage, and so on, the Changning Court, in accordance with law, ruled that the disputed property belongs to Liu Liang. Liu Liang must pay Li Lin a house valuation buyout of RMB 500,000 (including the RMB 119,000+ in taxes and fees Li Lin paid for the property-change procedures), and Li Lin must cooperate with the property-ownership change registration procedures.

After the judgment, Li Lin was dissatisfied and appealed. At the end of March 2025, the Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court issued a final judgment: the appeal was dismissed and the original judgment upheld.

Original article from Xinmin Evening News

Editor: Li Zheng

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