In reality, some couples agree by signing a marital agreement during marriage, and under certain circumstances, one party unconditionally agrees to divorce and compensates the other party for losses, is this agreement valid?
Let's take a look at this case first. (Case ** in Wolters Kluwer).
After getting married, Wang (female) and Weng (male) often quarreled over trivial matters and even fought. In February 2016, there was another quarrel between Wang and Weng, and Wang asked his mother's family for help, but his mother's family did not resolve the conflict, but instead had a physical conflict with Weng, resulting in Weng's injury.
In April 2016, Wang and Weng reconciled, and the two parties signed an agreement, which stipulated: if Wang repented and the marriage could not continue, Wang unconditionally agreed to the divorce, and Weng should also be compensated for economic losses and return the bride price. Soon after this reconciliation, the two parties clashed again, and Wang sued the court for divorce and demanded compensation for mental damages.
In the course of the litigation, Weng also proposed to the court that the two parties had signed an agreement during the marriage, and according to the agreement, Weng demanded that Wang compensate for economic losses and return the bride price.
With regard to the validity of the agreement that "if Wang repents and the marriage cannot be continued, Wang unconditionally agrees to the divorce, and Weng shall also be compensated for economic losses and return the bride price", the courts of first and second instance held that according to Article 2 of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China, "the marriage system of freedom of marriage, monogamy, and equality between men and women", both men and women have the freedom to marry and divorce, and the "Agreement" signed by Wang and Weng violates the above legal provisions, and the agreement should be invalid.
"Freedom to marry" is a basic personal right granted to citizens by law and is protected by law. Freedom to marry includes both the freedom to marry and the freedom to divorce. To the extent permitted by law, one party to a marriage may freely choose whether to divorce or not, without being forced or interfered by the other party to the marriage or other third parties.
In the above-mentioned case, the Agreement requires the wife to unconditionally consent to the divorce, which violates the law on the freedom of marriage, so such an agreement is fundamentally invalid, and the husband cannot claim compensation for economic losses and a refund of the bride price on the basis of this clause.
Therefore, the nuptial agreement stipulating that "one party unconditionally agrees to the divorce and compensates the other party for the loss of xx yuan" is invalid.