Many parties, when dividing property in divorce, often only focus on tangible assets such as real estate, vehicles, and savings, but ignore account-type properties like housing provident funds and pension funds. Even some opinions hold that housing provident funds and pensions have a personal attribute and can only belong to individuals, and cannot be divided during divorce. This understanding is inconsistent with the current legal provisions.

  According to Article 1062 of the Civil Code and Article 25 of the Interpretation (I) of the Marriage and Family Law, during the existence of the marriage relationship, the housing subsidies, housing provident funds, and basic pensions actually obtained or should have been obtained by both men and women are all considered “other property that should be jointly owned”. The legal basis for this is that housing provident funds and pensions are essentially extensions of wages, jointly contributed by individuals and units, and are a form of conversion of marital labor income, which should be included in the joint property of the couple.

  (1) Division of housing provident funds: During the existence of the marriage relationship, the entire balance of the housing provident funds contributed by individuals and units is joint property of the couple. However, divorce is not a legal reason for withdrawing housing provident funds. Courts usually do not directly order the division of the funds in the housing provident fund account, but instead, based on the net increase in the account balance during the marriage, require one party holding the account to pay the other party the corresponding cash equivalent of the share.

  (2) Division of pension insurance funds, in practice, needs to distinguish between two situations: if both parties have retired and meet the conditions for receiving the basic pension, the pension actually received or should have been received during the marriage is joint property of the couple and can be claimed for division.

  If one party has not retired or does not meet the conditions for receiving the pension at the time of divorce, the other party has no right to claim the division of future pension benefits. However, they can claim the division of the personal portion of the pension insurance contributions made with the joint property of the couple during the marriage relationship. Article 80 of the Interpretation (I) of the Marriage and Family Law clearly stipulates that after marriage, if the basic pension insurance contributions are paid with the joint property of the couple, one party can claim to divide the personal portion actually contributed during the marriage relationship and the interest as joint property. Although this part does not directly correspond to the future pension, it constitutes actual investment in joint property and should be compensated. In practical operations, due to the annual changes in the details of social security and housing provident fund contributions, individuals often find it difficult to accurately calculate the accumulated amount during the marriage. Parties may apply to the court for a subpoena to obtain complete contribution records from the housing provident fund management center and the social security service agency, and calculate the share of joint property based on the period from the date of marriage registration to the date of divorce.

  It is hereby reminded that when dividing marital property, all types of assets should be thoroughly checked, and do not omit hidden properties such as housing provident funds, pension funds, and enterprise annuities. This type of account funds accumulate over the years and the amount is often considerable, which belongs to the family wealth formed by the joint efforts of the couple and should be divided in accordance with the law during divorce.