According to the Yueyang Xiangyin Court, the Xiangyin County People's Court recently heard a case of a gift contract dispute. The court ruled that part of the money donated by the parties during their relationship should be returned when they broke up.
Yu and Li met in a bar in Changsha in 2020 and established a romantic relationship. During the relationship between the two parties, Yu made more than 200 transfers to Li's account through WeChat ID, totaling more than 130,000 yuan. Later, disputes arose due to emotional issues, which led to the two parties breaking up. In August 2022, Yu sued the court and asked Li to return more than 130,000 yuan.
During the litigation process, Yu and Li had a big dispute over whether the money transferred during their relationship should be returned. The court held that Yu's transfer to Li occurred during the period when Yu and Li were in love. The amount of the transfer varied from tens to thousands of yuan, and the number of times was hundreds of times. The above-mentioned transfer behavior was obviously different from ordinary borrowing. It is different and more in line with the situation of gifting between lovers. Small-amount transfers between lovers are usually made voluntarily to express love or used for daily living expenses. They are general gifts. As long as they are delivered, the ownership of the property changes and they are given to the other party free of charge. Although small amounts are given to the other party during the relationship. Gifts of property or daily consumption expenditures should be considered necessary expenditures for both men and women to maintain their relationship or joint consumption by both parties, and should not be required to be returned. However, the donation of large amounts of property is often done by one of the parties for the purpose of maintaining and consolidating the relationship between the parties or for the purpose of marriage. Although it is not suitable to be regarded as a betrothal gift, it should be regarded as a conditional gift. If the two parties finally break up, the purpose of the gift will be defeated, and the party receiving the property should return it appropriately according to the actual situation. This is not only in line with daily life experience and good customs, but also in line with the principles of voluntariness, fairness, equal compensation and good faith in civil activities. The Civil Code of the People's Republic of China clearly stipulates: "Civil legal acts may be subject to conditions, except where conditions cannot be attached due to their nature. Civil legal acts with conditions for taking effect shall take effect when the conditions are fulfilled. Civil legal acts with conditions for rescission shall It will be invalid when the conditions are fulfilled." Now that the relationship between Yu and Li has broken down and the conditions for the marriage cannot be fulfilled, Yu can ask for return. Taking into account the current living standards in Changsha City, this court determined that a transfer of more than 3,000 yuan was a large transfer, that is, Li should return 35,400 yuan to Yu.
The judge said
In trial practice, when a party requests the return of donated money, according to the specific circumstances of the case, comprehensive consideration will be given to the method, amount and purpose of the donation during the relationship between the two parties, and whether the property was donated for the purpose of marriage. For the purpose of marriage, you can ask the other party to return it, but in love, you cannot ask the other party to return property that is not a prerequisite for marriage and is given to each other out of etiquette. As for whether the money donated by one party needs to be returned during the relationship, the specific situation is indeed difficult to distinguish in real life. The specific situation can be referenced from the following aspects:
1. For the scarves, handkerchiefs, and ordinary gifts given to each other by the man and woman during the relationship or engagement, The clothing and daily necessities of the other party may not be returned if they are not sufficient to cause difficulties in the other party's life;
2. Holiday gifts, engagements, and banquets for men and women sent during this period do not need to be returned;
3. For both men and women, If one party insists on returning the photos given to each other, it should persuade the other party to return them as much as possible.
4. Large amounts of property (watches, TV sets, motorcycles, gold necklaces, high-end expensive clothing, etc.) and a certain amount of money (meeting gifts, kowtow gifts, etc.) given by one party to the other party in a relationship or engagement should generally be returned. Because large items or money exist based on a love relationship or a marriage contract, and are prerequisite for marriage. Once this relationship does not exist and the prerequisite is lost, the other party will lose the basis for obtaining the property. Any further possession of the property will be considered unjust enrichment and should be return. If the original item is not available or the receiving party is unable to return it, it shall be compensated at a discount or not returned.
5. For those who use property as bait, play with the feelings of the opposite sex and others, and are morally corrupt, even if they give a larger amount of property to the other party, from a moral point of view, they can choose to return it.
Xiaoxiang Morning News intern reporter Yu Guangqiang
