Rufa case [2024] 135
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Brief facts of the case
Zhao and Li met in January, and the two sides discussed the amount of the bride price in March. After the two parties reached an agreement on the amount of the bride price, after Li paid more than 11 yuan to Zhao through WeChat in April, the two parties went to the civil affairs department to register their marriage on May 20. The parties have not held a marriage ceremony, have no children, no joint property, and no joint claims and debts after marriage. The marriage ceremony was originally scheduled to be held in the second year, but after the two parties had a conflict, Zhao claimed that the two parties lacked in-depth understanding before marriage, and found that their personalities were not in harmony after marriage, and they often quarreled over trivial matters in life, and the husband and wife were not in harmony, so they sued the court for divorce less than a year after registering their marriage. Li agreed to the divorce, but filed a counterclaim demanding that Zhao return the full amount of the bride price. On the premise that the marriage has been registered and living together, does Zhao need to return the bride price?
Heard by the courts
The focus of this case is whether the bride price that Li has paid to Zhao should be returned. The bride price is a large amount of cash and property paid by the man to the woman for the purpose of marriage on the basis of public order and good morals. An appropriate and reasonable bride price can also express affection and promote the affection of both men and women, but the law prohibits the use of marriage to solicit money. In this case, according to the WeChat chat records provided by Li, it can be seen that the two parties began to talk about the bride price issue soon after they met, and finally the two parties talked about "picking thousands of miles."
One, eighty thousand. 8. Gold 20,000". Li transferred more than 11 yuan to the plaintiff through WeChat, and the amount of the bride price exceeded the local good customs, and also violated the provisions of the Civil Code on "prohibiting the use of marriage to solicit property". In the case where the parties have only registered their marriage but have lived together for a short period of time, after the divorce, the party receiving the bride price shall return the part of the bride price. Based on the time both parties have lived together and the local good customs, the court ruled that the two parties should divorce, and Zhao should return the bride price of 80,000 yuan to Li. After Zhao appealed, the court of second instance rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.
What the judge said
The pre-marital bride price is a marriage custom in China, which is a certain amount of cash and property paid by the man to the woman for the purpose of marriage based on public order and good customs. An appropriate and reasonable bride price can also express feelings and promote the relationship between men and women. However, with the improvement of people's living standards, the trend of bride price comparison has gradually prevailed in society, and the higher and higher bride price has also brought more and more burdens to marriageable young people. Affection should not be measured by the amount of the bride price. China's Civil Code clearly prohibits the extortion of property through marriage, and also severely cracks down on those who ask for a high bride price through marriage and ask for a divorce from the other party in a short period of time. We must vigorously carry forward the core socialist values and establish a correct outlook on money and marriage and love.
Links to legal provisions
Article 1042 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of ChinaIt is forbidden to solicit money or property under the pretext of marriage.
Article 5 of the Interpretation (1) of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China on Marriage and FamilyProvisions: Where a party requests the return of a bride price paid in accordance with custom, the people's court shall support it if it is ascertained that the following circumstances apply: (1) the parties have not gone through the marriage registration formalities; (2) The parties have gone through the marriage registration formalities but do not live together; (3) Premarital payments that cause hardship to the payor.
On January 17, 2024, the Supreme People's Court promulgated Article 5 of the Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Disputes over Bride PriceWhere both parties have already registered their marriage and live together, and at the time of divorce one party requests the return of the bride price paid in accordance with customs, 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 determine whether to return the bride price and the specific proportion of the return on the basis of the use of the bride price and the circumstances of the dowry, comprehensively considering facts such as the amount of the bride price, the circumstances of living together and the circumstances of pregnancy, and the fault of both parties, as well as local customs. **High Secret Court.