Utilizing Hong Kong’s Evidence Discovery to Assist in Mainland Divorce Property Division Litigation
Mainland Divorce, Transfer of Matrimonial Assets to Hong Kong
One of the difficulties that lawyers have been encountering in Mainland divorce proceedings on the division of joint marital property is the transfer of assets to Hong Kong by one of the parties for the purpose of dissipating joint matrimonial property (e.g. bank deposits). Due to the fact that the Mainland courts do not have the authority to investigate the assets in Hong Kong and the Mainland lawyers are unable to enquire about the defendant’s assets in Hong Kong, the Mainland courts are unable to make a fair judgment on the transferred assets. The solution is to apply to the Hong Kong court through a Hong Kong lawyer for a disclosure order (which can be accompanied by a freezing order to freeze the Defendant’s assets in Hong Kong and a gagging order to prevent the Defendant from knowing about it), and for the Hong Kong court to order the relevant bank to provide the Defendant with information on the flow of the Defendant’s accounts in Hong Kong, so as to enable the Defendant to obtain the necessary information for the purposes of divorce and property litigation in the Mainland. Property litigation.
Tracing of Hong Kong assets through discovery orders in Hong Kong
In the article ” Third Party Discovery Orders in Hong Kong Civil Litigation “, our Hong Kong lawyers introduced the general legal principles for applying for discovery orders from the court in Hong Kong. Then, for applications for discovery orders in Hong Kong courts in support of offshore (Mainland) divorce property division proceedings, the court established some more specific legal principles in the application of Ren Wenlong v BOCI (HCMP1660/2021) in Bai Yang v HSBC and Others (HCMP 42/2025):
- The applying party needs to provide very strong evidence of wrongdoing by the other party (e.g. concealment of property, transfer of property);
- It must be clear that the disclosure will have a significant impact on the applicant’s interests;
- The documents requested must be specific and not overly broad;
- the applicant party has exhausted all other means and is unable to obtain such evidential documents.
Given that the application is to fund divorce proceedings in a Mainland court, making such an application in Hong Kong usually requires a legal opinion from a Mainland lawyer to support the application by providing legal advice on Mainland legal issues (matrimonial community property regime, principles of division of divorced property, etc.).
Freeze the Defendant’s Hong Kong accounts by a Hong Kong asset freezing order
Before or after applying for a disclosure of evidence order in Hong Kong, depending on the circumstances, a Hong Kong solicitor can be instructed to apply to the Hong Kong court for a Mutual Assets Freezing Order to freeze the Defendant’s assets in Hong Kong and to prevent the Defendant from transferring the assets out of Hong Kong to other places again. For more information on the procedures and legal principles of applying for a Mareva Injunction, please refer to our Hong Kong lawyers’ article entitled ” Mariva Injunction – The Pulse of Hong Kong Civil Litigation “.
Gagging Order to Avoiding a Defendant’s Knowlege of the HK Action
Often, before or at the same time you apply for a freezing order, you can apply for a gag order through a Hong Kong lawyer to prohibit the bank or other party from notifying the defendant that the relevant legal proceedings are underway, so that the defendant does not have to transfer assets in Hong Kong after learning of the information.
(Author: Mr. Bob Yan, solicitor of the High Court of Hong Kong and PRC lawyer. Email: [email protected], WeChat/WhatsApp: +852 51039249)
Our Hong Kong attorneys specialize in Hong Kong civil litigation involving Hong Kong and the Mainland China. For any question on applying for a discovery order in Hong Kong in support of a divorce proceeding in the Mainland, you are welcome to contact our Hong Kong litigation solicitors team.
