Lufa case [2024] 047
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Brief facts of the case
The plaintiff Zhang and the defendant Li met after being introduced, established a relationship and lived together in March 2020, Zhang was engaged in house decoration work, ran a decoration company, and Li worked in an insurance company. During the relationship, the plaintiff transferred a total of more than 50 yuan to the defendant through WeChat red envelopes and bank transfers. In December 2022, due to emotional discord between the two parties, Li proposed to Zhang to break up, and after Zhang retained him many times, he failed to do so, so he ended the relationship. Li believes that the two parties live together and live together in the name of husband and wife, during which the defendant miscarried after pregnancy, spent a lot of medical expenses, caused significant physical and mental harm, and most of the money involved in the case was used for house decoration, purchase of furniture and household appliances, etc., and the defendant also transferred money to the plaintiff, so Li ignored Zhang's request and avoided Zhang. The plaintiff Zhang then sued the court, requesting that the defendant Li be sentenced to return 52 cash in accordance with the law290,000 yuan and interest, and bear the litigation costs of this case.
Heard by the courts
After trial, the court found that between March 2020 and December 2022, the plaintiff transferred money to the defendant ranging from 380 yuan to 100,000 yuan, with a total of 52 transfers290,000 yuan, the above amount is divided into four types: the first type is that the defendant Li borrowed 250,000 yuan from the plaintiff for the purpose of brushing performance and issued an IOU to the plaintiff. The second type combined with evidence such as WeChat chat records submitted by the plaintiff, Li said on April 13, 2022, "The old man at home is sick, and I don't have working capital in my hand now, so I will transfer 30,000 yuan to me first, and I will give it to you after the payment is returned in June", and then Zhang transferred 30,000 yuan to Li's WeChat. The third type is "520", "521", "666", "999" and other special meaning transfers, as well as transfers with remarks such as "happy birthday wife", "wife loves you", "wife has worked hard", etc., totaling 160,000 yuan. The fourth type of plaintiff can only provide records of the transfer. With regard to the above four types of transfers, the court held that the establishment of a private lending legal relationship between natural persons requires two elements: loan agreement and payment delivery. In this case, the plaintiff and the defendant made multiple transfers during their relationship, but they were used for different purposes and should be handled differently. Based on the evidence submitted by the plaintiff, the court held that the first and second types of transfers could reflect the loan agreement between the two parties, and should be recognized as loans, and the defendant should be responsible for repayment. With regard to the third type of transfer with a special meaning and a remark such as "happy birthday to my wife", the court held that the above-mentioned transfer had a special meaning and should be determined to be a gift from Zhang to Li to express his love or contact feelings, rather than a private lending relationship that reflected the loan agreement, so the court rejected Zhang's claim for Li to repay the part of the money; Considering the fact that the plaintiff and the defendant had lived together for nearly three years, and taking into account factors such as the level of economic income, spending power and the reasons for the breakup, the court did not find the fourth type of money to be a loan. In the end, the court ruled that the defendant Li should repay the plaintiff Zhang 280,000 yuan and the corresponding interest, and rejected the plaintiff's other claims. Plaintiff Zhang appealed against the first-instance judgment, and the second-instance court rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.
What the judge said
This kind of case happens from time to time in life, and it is normal for men and women to give gifts and money to each other to express their affection and blessings during their relationship. But in love, both parties should maintain a certain amount of sanity, do not use money as a measure of feelings, and do not get carried away by feelings. In order to avoid financial disputes between the parties after the breakup, the transfer between couples can be noted on the nature of the money and relevant documentary evidence can be retained to avoid disputes in the future. If the purpose of the transfer can be ascertained, how can the nature of the transfer during the relationship be determined when there is a dispute between the parties? Generally speaking, if the transfer message or red envelope description, or in the chat history before and after the payment, it is indicated that the money is borrowed, then it can be identified as a loan, and after the breakup, the other party can be asked to return the relevant money. Unless there is evidence to prove that the amount of "520" yuan and "1314" yuan transferred on a special holiday is a loan, the court cannot support the claim for return. However, the normal consumption, intensive and trivial transfers, and exchanges between lovers can be regarded as ordinary gifts, and they cannot be returned after the breakup. In reality, there is also a situation where the amount exchanged between the two parties exceeds a certain reasonable limit such as daily life interactions, and the amount is relatively large, and one party claims that the property was paid for the purpose of promoting the parties to enter into a marriage relationship, the people's court comprehensively considers the local customs of both parties, the time and method of payment, the value of the property, the payer and the recipient, and other facts to determine whether the above-mentioned payment is in the nature of a bride price, and then makes a judgment in accordance with law.
Links to legal provisions
Article 158 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of ChinaCivil juristic acts may be conditional, except where they may not be conditional on their nature. Civil juristic acts with conditions for taking effect take effect when the conditions are fulfilled. Civil juristic acts with conditions for rescission shall become invalid when the conditions are fulfilled.
Article 657 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of ChinaA gift contract is a contract in which the donor gives his property to the donee free of charge, and the donee expresses his acceptance of the gift.
Article 661 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of ChinaGifts may be accompanied by obligations. Where the gift is accompanied by obligations, the donee shall perform the obligations in accordance with the agreement.
Article 663 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of ChinaIn any of the following circumstances, the donor may revoke the gift: (1) seriously infringing upon the lawful rights and interests of the donor or the donor's close relatives; (2) Failure to perform the obligation to support the donor; (3) Failure to perform the obligations agreed upon in the gift contract. The donor's right of revocation shall be exercised within one year from the date on which the donor knew or should have known the reasons for revocation.
Article 665 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of ChinaIf the person with the right of revocation revokes the gift, he may request the donee to return the donated property.
Article 667 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of ChinaA loan contract is a contract in which the borrower borrows money from the lender and returns the loan at maturity with interest.
Article 16 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Private Lending CasesIf the plaintiff files a private lending lawsuit solely on the basis of the transfer voucher of the financial institution, and the defendant argues that the transfer is to repay the previous loans or other debts of both parties, the defendant shall provide evidence to prove its claim. After the defendant provides relevant evidence to prove its claim, the plaintiff should still bear the burden of proof for the establishment of the loan relationship. **Yishui Court.