For the first time, the Shushan court applied the new regulations and made a judgment on the return of the bride price.
On February 1, the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Bride Price Disputes (hereinafter referred to as the New Regulations) came into effect. On the same day, the Shushan District People's Court of Hefei City made the first judgment on the return of the bride price in the application of the new regulations.
The parties to the case, Wang (the man), and Li (the woman) registered their marriage one year after they met. Before marriage, Wang gave Li diamond jewelry worth 90,000 yuan, and transferred 180,000 yuan to Li, remarking "bride price".
However, after only 2 months of marriage, the young couple had a dispute over trivial matters, and Li went back to his parents' house to live, and the two parties have been living separately. Wang then filed a lawsuit for divorce with this court, requesting Li to return the bride price. Li did not object to the bride price advocated by Wang, but did not agree to the divorce.
After trial, the court held that the parties separated after only living together for two months after marriage, and did not establish a relationship between husband and wife, and the mediation was invalid, and the divorce should be granted to both parties. According to the new regulations, the bride price paid by Wang is too high compared with the per capita disposable income of local residents of 48,820 yuan, and the specific proportion of the bride price to be returned by the defendant should be determined by comprehensively considering the amount of the bride price, living together, and other facts.
In the end, the court ruled in accordance with the law and granted the parties a divorce; Li returned 180,000 yuan to Wang, and the diamond jewelry was not returned.
According to the Shushan District People's Court, the promulgation of the new regulations further refines the adjudication principles and standards for disputes over the return of bride price, such as measuring whether the bride price is too high, which can be compared with factors such as the disposable income of local residents and the economic situation of the payer, and the standards are clearer and more operable. In addition, the New Regulations stipulate that the people's court may determine whether to return the bride price and the specific proportion of the return according to the actual situation when the husband and wife have lived together for a short period of time and the amount of the bride price is too high, which is of important guiding significance for judicial practice.
*: Hefei Evening News.
Hefei Tong client-Hebao Quan**Reporter Wang Yawen Correspondent Huang Xueting.