Family Litigation

Key Points

• Taiwan divorce analysis must distinguish a mutual-consent divorce satisfying Civil Code Article 1050’s writing requirement, signatures by at least two witnesses who personally perceived and confirmed both spouses’ genuine intent to divorce, and household registration; divorce by court mediation or settlement; and judicial divorce.
• A cross-border marriage or foreign divorce requires separate analysis of Taiwan judicial jurisdiction and administrative authority, applicable law, Taiwan recognition and effect of the foreign status act or judgment, Taiwan household-registration procedure, and any procedure in another country or region.
• Registered title and ownership of a specific asset, and claims based on gift, nominee registration, loan, or restitution, must be separated from Civil Code Article 1030-1 residual-property distribution; its two-year and five-year periods do not apply wholesale to damages, post-divorce support, or child support.
• When other heirs exist, a spouse inherits concurrently with the heirs in the applicable Civil Code rank; if no heir exists in any of the four ranks, the spouse inherits the entire estate. The share varies with the composition of the heirs, and inheritance and the spouse’s separate residual-property claim must also be calculated separately.
• The exercise and assumption of rights and duties concerning a minor child, and contact or visitation, are determined under the child’s best interests rather than marital fault or any single automatic factor.
• When a court orders personal appearance, the first fine for unjustified nonappearance is up to NTD 30,000 and arrest is unavailable; household registration is generally sought within 30 days after a divorce judgment becomes final or court mediation or settlement is established, late applications remain accepted, and the office may register directly after written demand when statutory conditions are met.