Can Bride Price Be Returned？

Today we shall talk about bride prices, which is a common custom in China, and whether or not these gifts can be returned if there is no marriage or even after getting divorced.

A bride price is usually given to your fiance or her parents before marriage. Usually speaking, it is a cash transfer of a 6-digit number plus gifts of gold and diamond, which include earrings, necklaces and bracelets. It can even be a new car or a new house, depending on the situation.  Technically speaking, as this gift is given before you get officially married, it is not common property as the timeline is before marriage. Therefore, there are a lot of legal disputes on whether or not this amount can be returned if the woman decides not to marry the man.

A bride price in legal terms is a gift contract with a condition, which is obviously marriage here. Therefore, if the condition of marriage is not fulfilled, this gift has to be returned. You might say, but Edgar, we never signed any contract when the gift was given! Do not worry because an invisible contract is formed by law nevertheless when the gift is given. Not all contracts have to be in written form, and a good example of this would be buying a coke at the grocery store. If all contracts had to be written, then it would certainly be extremely annoying to keep stacks of contracts at home for every thing you do.

So what happens if there is a divorce right after the bridge price is given and a marriage certificate is obtained? In this case, the bride price can be returned under two circumstances, which are no cohabitation after marriage, or if the man is able to prove that the bride price has caused him a lot of financial harm to the extent that he is having trouble living. A lot of guys spend more than they can on the bride price and have to go under a huge amount of credit card debt just to find that his newly wed wife was just gunning after the bride price and decided to disappear immediately after marriage.

To conclude, I would suggest to voice financial difficulties if your fiance’s family ask for sky-high prices, and probably forget about the marriage altogether if they are not understanding. A marriage is not a transaction but a life-changing event for two families, so I think that it is reasonable for a small gift that is used for life after marriage, like a car that is registered under both parties’ names. It is absolutely ridiculous if not preposterous for the fiance’s family to ask for a huge sum of money, as after all, they are not selling their daughter here.