On March 1, 2022, Lawyer Wang Ao received a consultation from Ms. He, a client from the United States. “After divorcing my ex-husband, he has not transferred the property to my name as agreed in the divorce agreement, and has been occupying the house, renting it out and collecting the rent by himself. I have communicated with him many times without success. I have settled in Australia and started a new life. I am not convenient to return to China and want to entrust a lawyer in China to handle this case for me.”

After accepting Ms. He’s commission, we had three phone conferences to understand the background of the dispute between Ms. He and her ex-husband, including his character traits and ways of dealing with things, so that we could negotiate better with him and hope to resolve the dispute through mediation. We sent a lawyer’s letter to the ex-husband and had multiple phone conversations, but due to the large divergence of interests between the two parties, Ms. He’s ex-husband insisted on not transferring the property to our client, with the excuse that Ms. He did not take care of the elderly and children as agreed in the divorce agreement. Of course, we believed that this was just an excuse, and ultimately our negotiations ended in failure.

What should be done if the negotiation fails?

In civil cases, if negotiation fails, usually the only option is to file a lawsuit in court to resolve the dispute. In this case, Lawyer Abby Wang represented Ms. He and filed a lawsuit in the Huizhou court in Guangdong Province, where her ex-husband frequently resides.

The following is the timeline of the case, which can provide you with a reference for the litigation process and duration in China.

litigation process and duration

What should a professional lawyer do before going to court?

Before the trial, Lawyer Abby Wang and her team combined the information collected during the mediation stage about Ms. He’s ex-husband, including his personality traits and arguments, to predict the dispute’s focal point. We then had a meeting with Ms. He to prepare for the trial fully, focusing on the dispute’s main issues.

During the trial process, Lawyer Abby Wang provided sufficient responses to the defendant’s sophistry from various aspects such as evidence, law, and moral ethics.

In the end, with our unremitting efforts, the Huizhou City Court in Guangdong Province made a judgment supporting our request to transfer the property ownership and return the rent.

In this case, our client did not need to return to China or personally communicate with her ex-husband after entrusting us with the case. This saved her from the troubles of marital disputes and she was very satisfied with our services.

 

Helped our client get the property ownership certificate