Research On The Legal Issues Of The Betrothal Gifts Return System In China

The betrothal gifts return system is a legal system that resolves disputes over the ownership of the betrothal gifts given prior to the marriage when the man and woman cannot contract a marriage.Research on this system is of great significance for maintaining the harmony and stability of the marriage,protecting the lawful rights and interests of the people,and promoting the equity and order of the judicature.The betrothal gifts return system of China is mainly written in the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court about Several Problems Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law of(II).It usually depends on the marriage registration.If both parties fail to complete the marriage register formalities,the gifts are supposed to be returned.If the husband and wife are divorced legally,they will not be returned by principle.If both the man and the woman do not cohabit as a matter of fact after marriage or the betrothal gifts given prior to the marriage makes the giver live in difficulty,the court shall support the return.However,there are still many contradictions between judicial practice and the content of the betrothal gifts return system.Through the use of literature research methods,case analysis methods and other research methods,the article found that the problems of the system mainly include following 5 aspects: the imperfect rules,unsound standards and unclear scope of the gifts return,and the uncertainty of the factors affecting affecting the return amount,and the unclear subject of litigation.Among them,the unsound standard for judging whether to return the betrothal gift is manifests in two aspects: it is rather limited to applying the "cohabitation" refereeing betrothal gifts and it is hard to define the standard of "living in difficulty due the gifts ".Improving the gift return system should suit the remedy to the case.Firstly,the rules of the gifts return should be perfected with the respect for the traditional customs and protection of the lawful rights and interests of women;secondly,the scope of the gifts return should be limited as the proterty for the marriage engagement rather than all the given gifts;thirdly,the standards of the gifts return should be sounded by defining "cohabitation" and abolishing the rule of "living in difficulty";fourthly,the return amount should be concerned with the factors such as "length of life together","fault responsibility",and "child-bearing";finally,both the partners should be clarified as the subject of the courtesy return procedure.