Does The Wife Have To Repay Her Husband’s Gambling Loans?
Jack and Jill are a married couple without kids. Jack works as a chef in a local restaurant in Shanghai, and Jill is a company secretary.
Jack has a terrible habit, gambling. He uses three-fourth’s of his income gambling at everything, and loses it all every time. Jill has tried to get rid of his habit many times, using divorce a threat, but Jack simply converts back to his old habits a month later.
One day, Jack receives ‘insider’ information from a friend on football, and he decides to borrow a million to bet on it illegally. He thinks that it is a win for sure, and he can get all the money he lost back in one go.
However, there is no free lunch in the world, and Jack is even deeper in debt, without a way to pay it off. He decides to disappear in Thailand for a few years, until the loan sharks have forgotten about him to avoid being chopped to pieces.
The loan shark, Alex, knowing that Jack has a wife who has a stable income, knocks on her door late one night.
‘Your husband Jack owes us 1 million. Pay me the money’ Alex demanded.
‘I haven’t seen him in ages. Go find him and make him cough up the money, not me’ Jill said.
‘You are his wife, and he is missing. Therefore, it is now your responsibility to pay the money.’ Alex said, getting impatient.
‘No, I am not paying a penny. Leave now or I shall call the cops.’ Replied Jill, slamming the door shut.
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China (II)
Article 24
During the existence of the marriage, if either the husband or wife files a claim for a personal debt in the name of one party, the debt shall be treated as a joint debt of the husband and wife, unless either the husband or wife is able to prove that the creditor and the debtor have clearly stipulated it as a personal debt or to show that the debt is under any of the circumstance as prescribed in the third paragraph of Article 19 of the Marriage Law.
Where a third party claims rights over any debt fabricated by one spouse in collusion with the third party, the people's court shall not support the third party's claim.
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