In recent years, with the economic and social development, the problem of high bride price has become prominent, and the public is also more concerned about bride price disputes. On the basis of summarizing the practical experience of adjudication and responding to the judicial needs of the people in the new era, the Supreme People's Court formulated and promulgated the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Disputes over Bride Price (hereinafter referred to as the "Provisions"), which will come into effect on February 1, 2024. Recently, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court applied the above provisions to conclude a marriage contract property dispute involving a bride price.
Basic facts of the case
The party, Mr. Jia, appealed to the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court, demanding that the appellee Mr. Li return all the property he had paid. In order to prove his claim, Jia submitted screenshots of WeChat chat records, shopping receipts, bank transfer records and other documents to the court. After investigation, Jia and Li met and established a relationship through a commercial dating website in early 2021. During the relationship, Jia bought a mobile phone and jewelry for Li (purchased on May 20), and transferred a total of 40,000 yuan many times.
Later, the two parties began to live together from time to time, and the parties discussed the marriage and communicated the amount of the bride price. Jia agreed to give a bride price of 500,000 yuan, and after that, Jia transferred 150,000 yuan to Li, and the remaining bride price was not paid. Half a year later, the two parties broke up due to personality and living habits. During the trial, Jia claimed that the mobile phone, jewelry, and transfer he bought for Li were all bride prices, and demanded that Li return all the transfers and the discount of the mobile phone and jewelry. (The names of the parties in the article have been changed)
After trial, the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court held that, in accordance with Article 3 of the Provisions, the people's court may, in hearing a case involving a bride price dispute, determine the scope of the bride price based on the purpose of the property to be paid by one party, and comprehensively consider the local customs of both parties, the time and method of payment, the value of the property, the giver and the recipient, and other facts. Property paid in the following circumstances is not a bride price: (1) gifts or cash gifts of little value paid by one party at a time of special commemorative significance, such as festivals and birthdays; (2) One party's daily consumption expenditures for the purpose of expressing or enhancing affection; (3) Other property of little value. Therefore, the property paid during the relationship needs to be judged according to the truth whether it is a bride price that should be returned. The mobile phone purchased by Jia for Li and the 40,000 yuan transferred were daily consumption expenses made by Jia to enhance his relationship, and did not belong to the bride price; The jewelry purchased by Jia for Li at a special time is a consumer expenditure to express or enhance feelings, and it is not a bride price; The 150,000 yuan transferred by Jia to Li occurred after the two parties communicated the amount of the bride price, and the nature was clearly recognized by both parties as a bride price, so it can be determined that 150,000 yuan is part of the bride price paid by Jia for the purpose of marrying Li.
According to Article 6 of the Provisions, if the parties have not registered their marriage but have already lived together, and one party requests the return of the bride price paid in accordance with custom, the people's court shall, on the basis of the actual use of the bride price and the dowry, comprehensively consider the facts such as living together, and combine local customs, to determine whether to return the bride price and the specific proportion of the return. Jia and Li did not register their marriage and did not have a pregnancy, combined with the fact that the two parties only lived together from time to time and the time was very short, Li was finally ordered to return the bride price of 150,000 yuan to Jia, and Jia's other litigation claims were rejected. At present, the judgment has taken legal effect.
The judge's heart
The bride price has a broad social and cultural basis in the mainland. Normally, the payment of the bride price occurs before the conclusion of the marriage, and if the marriage is not completed, the bride price should be returned; On the contrary, if the bride price is already married, the bride price will generally not be returned. However, with the economic and social development, the social foundation behind the bride price has undergone major changes: on the one hand, the marriage relationship is established only after the completion of marriage registration, but in some areas, the people still take the holding of weddings and living together as the standard, resulting in a large number of cases where the bride price is returned after living together without marriage registration; On the other hand, in some areas, the amount of the bride price continues to rise, the comparison has become a trend, the duration of the marriage is too short, and even fraud is committed in the name of the bride price. The emergence of these new situations has not only alienated the marital relationship and led to a serious imbalance of interests, but also greatly damaged public order and good customs, and brought many hidden dangers to social governance.
When adjudicating disputes involving bride price, it is necessary not only to adjudicate in accordance with the law and balance the interests of both parties, but also to explain the "big truth" through "small cases", guide the people to look at the bride price issue more rationally, promote the change of customs, and advocate a healthy marital relationship. The bride price is a gift for the purpose of marriage, and the purpose includes many factors such as marriage registration, living together, and conceiving children. Where a marriage has been registered and lives together, the bride price is generally not returned when the parties divorce. However, if the period of living together is relatively short and the amount of the bride price is too high, the amount of the bride price and the circumstances of the dowry, the amount of the bride price, the circumstances of living together and the circumstances of the pregnancy, and the fault of both parties shall be comprehensively considered, and the specific proportion of the return shall be determined based on local customs; Where marriage registration has not been completed, the bride price shall be returned in principle, but where both parties have already lived together, facts such as living together and the circumstances of pregnancy, the fault of both parties, and other such facts, combined with local customs, shall be determined whether to return and the specific proportion of the return.
Expert commentary
The focus of the dispute in this case was the issue of whether the property given by Jia to Li was a bride price. When handling this case, the court, based on the facts, determined that the mobile phone purchased by Jia for Li before the marriage and the jewelry purchased for Li on "5.20" were consumer expenditures made by Jia to express and enhance his feelings with Li, and did not have the purpose of paying a bride price in accordance with customs, and did not fall within the scope of bride price. The 150,000 yuan that Jia transferred to Li after discussing the marriage with Li and determining the amount of the bride price was a bride price paid for the purpose of marriage, and the court's judgment that the property donated by Jia to Li was not returned, but that all the bride price paid was returned, was in line with the handling opinions on the determination and return of the bride price in the "Provisions".
The significance of this case lies in the fact that it puts forward the criteria for distinguishing between gifts and bride prices in a general sense: first, the stages of occurrence are different. Gifts mainly occur when the parties are in love but have not yet reached the stage of discussing marriage, while the bride price mainly occurs after the parties have reached or initially reached a consensus on the amount of marriage and bride price. Second, the reasons for the occurrence are different. Although the purpose and motive of the parties are similar to those of the general gifts during the relationship, the payment of the bride price is generally based on local customs and customs, with the direct purpose of entering into a marriage relationship and a relatively specific scope of property. In a general sense, a gift is mainly a voluntary and gratuitous gift of property to the other party by one or both parties for the purpose of maintaining and promoting the relationship between the two parties. It is certain that it is more reasonable and appropriate to combine the reasons for the payment of property given at different stages of the relationship as the criterion for distinguishing gifts and bride prices in the general sense, which not only better interprets the criteria for determining that the payment of bride price is a gift for the purpose of concluding marriage, but also provides guidance to the society and plays a good role in promoting the change of customs.
Source: China Popular Law