If you get divorced, can you get the bride price back?

Hello, what you said about whether you can get the bride price back after divorce depends on the actual situation. If you have registered your marriage but are not living together, or if the pre-marital bride price has made it difficult for you to make ends meet, then the bride price can be returned. However, if you have registered your marriage and lived together after paying the bride price to the other party, you will generally not be able to get the money back.

Paying a "bride price" for marriage is one of the traditional wedding customs in China. As for the nature of the bride price, there is no clear provision in Chinese law, and it is generally recognized as a gift for the purpose of marriage. In recent years, with the development of the economy and the improvement of people's living standards, the amount of bride price has been increasing, ranging from thousands of gold and silver jewelry, to tens of thousands of yuan in cash, and even hundreds of thousands of cars and houses.

So in the event of divorce, should the bride price paid to the man be returned? How is the amount of the refund determined? In this regard, China's laws have made clear provisions, according to the provisions of Article 5 of the Interpretation (1) of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China on the application of the marriage and family section of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China:

Where a party requests the return of the 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 completed 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. The application of the provisions of items (2) and (3) of the preceding paragraph shall be conditional on the divorce of both parties.

In judicial practice, judges usually consider factors such as the length of time the parties have lived together, the amount of the bride price, local customs, the actual use of the bride price, and the degree of fault of both parties to determine whether to return the bride price and the amount to be returned. Finally, it should be noted that if a man and a woman have undergone a marriage ceremony and live together, but the man refuses to register the marriage and is unable to go through the marriage registration formalities, then the woman may not refund the money.

The bride price may be returned if the following conditions are met: (1) The man and woman have not gone through the marriage registration formalities at the local civil affairs department, in this case, the man and the woman are not husband and wife in the legal sense. The bride price can be returned; (2) Where both parties have gone through the marriage registration formalities but have not yet lived together, and one party requests a refund of the bride price, it must be returned; (3) If one party pays the bride price before marriage, and causes hardship, the other party shall return it, and the hardship must reach the minimum standard of living in the locality.

There are also circumstances in which the divorce bride price cannot be returned, mainly including the following situations: (1) The marriage has been registered and living together. In this case, the bride price does not need to be returned after the divorce.

2) Where a man and a woman have not gone through the marriage registration formalities and have lived together for a long time, they shall generally have children born for more than two years or during the period of cohabitation, and the bride price does not need to be returned after divorce. (3) Where a man and a woman live together without completing marriage registration formalities, and the bride price received has indeed been used for living together, the bride price does not need to be returned after divorce. In the event of the death of the parties to the marriage contract during the marriage contract, the bride price does not need to be returned after the divorce.

However, this does not apply if a lawsuit has already been filed before death.

Reality is confused. When Wang and Li got married, the parents of the man Wang prepared a bride price for the Li family. The latter two divorced due to emotional discord.

After the divorce, when dividing the property, Wang asked the Li family to return the bride price prepared by his parents when they got married. Is Wang's request reasonable?

Lawyer answers. Judging whether Wang's request is reasonable depends on the circumstances. According to traditional customs, the bride price paid by one party to a marriage to the other cannot be reduced simply to the joint property of the husband and wife.

Under normal circumstances, the nature of the bride price should be determined to be the contribution of the parents of one of the parties to the marriage of the child, and according to this understanding, the bride price seems to belong to the joint property of the husband and wife. However, according to Article 10 of the Supreme People's Court's Interpretation (II) on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China, the bride price is a gift of property given by one party to the other party for the purpose of marriage. In this case, the bride price given to Li by Wang's parents should be returned according to the Interpretation of the Marriage Law (II).

Links to legal provisions. Interpretation (II) of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China

Article 10: Where parties request the return of bride price paid in accordance with custom, the people's court shall support it if it is ascertained that it falls under the following circumstances:

1) The parties have not gone through the marriage registration formalities; (2) The parties have gone through marriage registration formalities but do not live together; (3) Payments made before marriage and causing hardship to the payor.

The application of the provisions of items (2) and (3) of the preceding paragraph shall be conditional on the divorce of both parties.

A collection of jurisprudence. It is customary in many places for a man to pay a bride price to a woman. The bride price paid by the man to the woman for the purpose of marriage should be refunded if the parties fail to register the marriage. This provision is the embodiment of the principle of public order and good morals in the process of entering into marriage.

Article 10 of the Interpretation (II) of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China provides that if a party requests the return of the bride price paid in accordance with custom, the people's court shall support it if it is ascertained to fall under one of the following circumstances:

1) The parties have not gone through the marriage registration formalities;

(2) The parties have gone through marriage registration formalities but do not live together;

(3) Payments made before marriage and causing hardship to the payor.

According to the above provisions, it can be seen that:

1.If the parties have not registered their marriage, under normal circumstances, the man can request the woman to return the bride price;

2.If the parties have not registered their marriage but have lived together for more than two years, or even have children, the woman may not return the bride price when they break up.

3.If the man and the woman do not have a marriage certificate but live together, and the bride price is also received during the period of cohabitation, then the bride price does not need to be returned at the time of divorce.

4.If the husband pays the bride price to the woman's family before the marriage, but the family is in great difficulty, the woman needs to return the bride price when the divorce occurs.

5.In the case of the preservation of the marital relationship, the bride price does not need to be returned after the death of the woman. However, this is not the case if the marriage contract has filed a lawsuit with the court before the death.

Legal analysis: The main basis for deciding whether to return the bride price is whether the parties have entered into a marriage relationship. If a marriage relationship is not concluded after the bride price is paid, the bride price shall be returned in principle; If they are married, in principle, the bride price will not be returned (except for some special circumstances); Where a marriage ceremony is held in accordance with custom but no marriage certificate is obtained, the bride price shall not be returned in principle when the cohabitation is dissolved.

Legal basis: Civil Code of the People's Republic of China

Article 1076:Where both husband and wife divorce voluntarily, they shall sign a written divorce agreement and apply for divorce registration in person at the marriage registration authority.

The divorce agreement shall clearly state the parties' expression of intent to divorce voluntarily and the consensus on matters such as child support, property, and debt handling.

Article 1079:Where one of the husband and wife requests a divorce, the relevant organization may conduct mediation or directly initiate divorce proceedings in the people's court.

People's courts hearing divorce cases shall conduct mediation; If the relationship has indeed broken down and mediation fails, the divorce shall be granted.

In any of the following circumstances, if mediation fails, a divorce shall be granted:

1) bigamy or cohabitation with another person;

2) Committing domestic violence or abusing or abandoning family members; Haruno Bridge.

3) Having bad habits such as gambling and drug addiction that they have repeatedly taught and not changing;

4) Separated for two years due to emotional discord;

5) Other circumstances that lead to the breakdown of the relationship between husband and wife.

Where one party is declared missing and the other party initiates divorce proceedings, the divorce shall be granted.

After the people's court has ruled that the divorce is not allowed, and the parties have been separated for one year, and one party files a divorce lawsuit again, the divorce shall be granted.

Legal analysis: If the circumstances stipulated by law are met, you can ask for a bride price from Yanchun.

Legal basis: Article 5 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China on Marriage and Family (1) 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 to fall under the following circumstances:

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 payer.

The application of the provisions of items 2 and 3 of the previous extortion shall be conditional on the divorce of both parties.

According to Article 10 of the Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law (II), where a party requests the return of the 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 two parties have gone through the formalities for marriage registration, but the banquet companions have not lived together;

(3) Payments made before marriage and causing hardship to the payor. The application of the provisions of items (2) and (3) of the preceding paragraph shall be conditional on the divorce of both parties.