On December 11, the Supreme People's Court promulgated the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Disputes over Bride Prices (Draft for Comments) (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft Opinions").
The Draft Opinion is open to the public for comments through the government affairs website of the Supreme People's Court, the website of the Chinese courts, and the People's Court Daily. The Draft Opinion stipulates the definition of bride price, the conditions for the return of the bride price when the marriage has been registered and living together, and the conditions for the return of the bride price when the marriage has not been registered but living together.
The Draft Opinion stipulates that these provisions shall apply to disputes arising from the return of a bride price based on Xi custom for the purpose of concluding marriage. It is forbidden to solicit money or property under the pretext of marriage. Where one party extorts property in the name of a bride price under the pretext of marriage, and the other party requests that it be returned, the people's court shall support it. In a marital property dispute, one of the parties to the marriage contract and the parents who actually paid the bride price may be the joint plaintiffs;The other party to the marriage contract and his or her parents, who actually received the bride price, may be co-defendants.
Regarding the definition of bride price, the Draft Opinion states that when hearing a case involving a bride price dispute, the people's court may determine the scope of the bride price based on factors such as the local folk Xi of both parties, the purpose of payment, the time and method of payment, the value of the property, the giver and the recipient.
Property paid in the following circumstances is not a bride price: (1) Gifts or cash gifts of little value paid by one of the parties to the marriage contract at special commemorative occasions such as festivals and birthdays;(2) Consumption expenditures incurred by one of the parties to the marriage contract for the purpose of expressing or enhancing affection;(3) Other property of little value.
Regarding the "conditions for the return of the bride price when the marriage has been registered and living together", the Draft Opinion stipulates that if both parties have registered their marriage and live together, and one party requests the return of the bride price paid in accordance with Xi customs at the time of divorce, the people's court will generally not support it.
However, if the period of living together is relatively short and the amount of the bride price is too high, the people's court may, on the basis of the specific circumstances of the case, comprehensively consider the amount of the bride price, the time spent together, the actual use of the bride price and the dowry, whether there are children conceived, the fault of both parties, and other facts, and in light of local Xi customs, determine whether to return the bride price and the specific proportion of the return.
To determine whether the amount of the bride price is too high, it may be determined by referring to facts such as the per capita disposable income of residents in the place where the bride price payer is located, the economic situation of the family of the payer, and local Xi.
With regard to the "conditions for the return of the bride price when living together without marriage registration", the Draft Opinion stipulates that if a party requests the return of the bride price paid in accordance with Xi customs without marriage registration but the two parties have already lived together, the people's court shall determine whether to return the bride price and the specific proportion of the return based on facts such as the time spent living together, the actual use of the bride price and the dowry, whether there are children conceived, and the fault of both parties, as well as local Xi and customs.
The Supreme People's Court stated that during the period of soliciting comments, all sectors of society are welcome to submit valuable opinions, and please explain the specific reasons when submitting opinions and suggestions. Written opinions can be sent to Zhang Lingruo, First Civil Trial Division of the Supreme People's Court, No. 27, Dongjiaomin Lane, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100745;E-mail should be sent to the e-mail address zgfmytlaw 163com, the deadline for this consultation is December 26, 2023.
Text |Reporter Dong Liu.
* |Yangcheng Evening News Yangcheng Pie** Visual China Editor-in-Charge|Proofread by Chen Shijie |Xie Zhizhong.