A Study On Recognition And Settlement Of US Marital Debts Under Community Property

The recognition of joint debt between husband and wife has always been a hot issue in the field of marriage and family,and has attracted much attention from the academic community.Due to the different marital property systems,identifying joint debts is also different.In China,the problem of the couple’s joint debt mainly focuses on the identification of the couple’s joint debt and the settlement of the couple’s joint debt.This paper mainly discusses the issue of the joint debt of the couple under the condition that the USA uses the common property system of the couple.There are nine states in the United States that apply the marital joint property system,among which Idaho,Texas,California,Louisiana and Nevada are the states that apply the management model to the recognition of marital joint debt in theory,and Washington,Wisconsin,New Mexico and Arizona are the states that apply the marital joint debt model.Because our country also applies the marital common property system,there are similarities between the states in the United States that apply the marital common property system and our country.Therefore,this paper makes a specific study of the relevant legal provisions and precedents on the issue of conjugal joint debt in the states where the marital joint property system is applicable in the United States,in order to solve issues of conjugal joint debt in China.The characteristics of the United States marital common property system is the two have the equal right of the marital property.The joint property system of husband and wife plays an important role in identifying and satisfying the joint debts of the two.Because both husband and wife have equal rights to marital property,whiling settling the debts,they must benefit both parties.Since the joint property of the husband and wife does not belong to an independent marriage community,but belongs to both parties,one party of the husband and wife can pay off the personal debts with its rights and interests in the joint property of the husband and wife.The United States applies the management model to determine the marital debt.The marital debt during the marriage relationship does not take whether it is beneficial to the interests of the husband and wife community.The debt is paid off by the debtor’s personal property and the common property managed by the debtor.In the United States,where the model of joint debt between husband and wife is applicable,deciding the marital debt is based on the judgment standard of the interests of the community of husband and wife,that is,during the marriage relationship,if the debt of one spouse is for the interests of the community of husband and wife,it belongs to the joint debt of husband and wife.For this determination standard,it has been continuously specified in judicial precedents.The United States applies the management model to decide marital debt.The debt borne by the husband and wife during the marriage relationship shall be paid off by the debtor’s property and mairtal property managed by the debtor.In the United States,the states that apply the model of joint debt of husband and wife have stipulated different settlement rules for different types of joint debt of husband and wife.For example,the contractual debt of one spouse shall be settled by the joint property and personal property of the spouse of the debtor;For household necessities,the debts of one spouse shall be paid off by the personal property of both spouses and their common property;If the debt of the husband and wife for external infringement is identified as the personal debt of the husband and wife,the personal property of the infringing spouse and the rights and interests of the infringing spouse in the joint property of the husband and wife shall be compensated.And the particularity of the tort debt lies in this,that is,the personal debt of the husband and wife can be paid off by the rights and interests of the spouse of the infringer in the joint property of the husband and wife,balancing the rights and interests of the creditor and the spouse of the non-debtor.Through the analysis of the provisions on the joint debt of spouses in the states where the common property system is applicable in the United States,and in combination with the current situation and problems of the joint debt of spouses in China,this paper mainly brings enlightenment to the rules of the joint debt of spouses in China from two aspects.When improving the system of joint debt between husband and wife,China should refer to the states in the United States that apply the model of joint debt between husband and wife,and add the rule-the interests of the community of husband and wife;As for the liability property of the joint debt,the scope of the liability property in China should be refined.To sum up,by analyzing the recognition of the marital joint debt in the states of the United States’ joint property system,and combining with the analysis of the current situation and problems of the recognition of the marital joint debt in China,some suggestions are put forward for the improvement of the marital joint debt in China.