Keep clear transfer records for betrothal gifts and other marriage-related payments
Chinese law prohibits using marriage to extract property and supports return where that rule is breached. Other grounds for returning betrothal gifts include no marriage registration, registration without actually living together, or qualifying hardship caused by pre-marriage payment. Registered couples who have lived together ordinarily do not receive a full automatic return. Whoever pays should preserve evidence, regardless of sex.
What it takes
Free. Use traceable transfers and specify the purpose for betrothal gifts, the customary gold-jewelry set, and ceremonial payments to parents. Confirm oral arrangements in messages or in front of family witnesses.
What you may gain
A court supports return where a party uses the label of betrothal gifts to extract property through marriage. The cited rules also identify three return situations: no marriage registration; registration without genuine shared life; and pre-marriage payment causing hardship to the payer, subject to the applicable conditions. Where a marriage was registered and the couple lived together, return is generally not required. If cohabitation was brief and the amount exceptionally high, the court may determine a proportion by considering how the money was used, any dowry, pregnancy or childbirth, and fault. Unregistered couples who have lived together are also assessed proportionately. The 2024 provisions took effect in February 2024.
Context & considerations
There is no single nationwide amount that makes a gift “excessively high.” Courts consider per-capita disposable income where the payer lives and the household’s circumstances. The return proportion is case-specific. The evidence principle is the same for either side: whoever paid should keep the records.
Research & references
National People’s Congress (2020). Civil Code, Article 1042. https://www.spp.gov.cn/spp/fl/202006/t20200602_463888.shtml; Supreme People’s Court (2024). Provisions on betrothal-gift disputes, Judicial Interpretation 2024 No. 1, Articles 2, 5, and 6. https://www.court.gov.cn/fabu/xiangqing/423442.html; Supreme People’s Court (2020). Civil Code marriage-and-family interpretation I, Judicial Interpretation 2020 No. 22, Article 5. https://www.court.gov.cn/fabu/xiangqing/282071.html.