The "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Bride Price Disputes," commonly known as the "new bride price rules," took effect on February 1 of this year. Recently, the Beijing ** Intermediate People's Court tried two dispute cases applying the "new bride price rules."

　　Mr. Jia and Ms. Yang met and fell in love through a commercial matchmaking website. Early in their relationship, Mr. Jia bought Ms. Yang a mobile phone worth more than 9,000 yuan, and on the special day of May 20, he also bought her jewelry worth tens of thousands of yuan. During their relationship, Mr. Jia and Ms. Yang began living together from time to time. In the course of this, he transferred 40,000 yuan to Ms. Yang in several installments. When discussing marriage, Mr. Jia agreed to give Ms. Yang a bride price of 500,000 yuan and transferred 150,000 yuan to her. Half a year later, the two broke up due to personality issues.

　　Judge Liang Rui of the Beijing ** Intermediate People's Court: The two did not register their marriage, did not hold a wedding, and lived together for a very short time, only living together intermittently, and there was no situation of having children.

　　After the breakup, Mr. Jia believed that the mobile phone, jewelry, and the 150,000 yuan transfer given to Ms. Yang were all bride price and demanded their full return. Ms. Yang believed that these were all voluntary gifts from Mr. Jia and refused to return them.

　　After trial, the court held that the mobile phone Mr. Jia bought for Ms. Yang, the jewelry purchased on May 20, and the 40,000 yuan transferred to Ms. Yang for daily consumption expenses to enhance their relationship did not constitute "bride price" under the Supreme People's Court's "new bride price rules," and ruled that they need not be returned.

　　Article 3 of the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Bride Price Disputes" provides:

　　Property given under the following circumstances does not constitute bride price:

　　(1) Gifts and cash gifts of small value given by one party on festivals, birthdays, and other occasions of special commemorative significance;

　　(2) Daily consumption expenses incurred by one party to express or enhance affection;

　　(3) Other property of small value.

　　As for the 150,000 yuan that Mr. Jia transferred to Ms. Yang, the court ultimately determined that it constituted bride price and ruled that Ms. Yang should return it in full.

　　Judge Liang Rui of the Beijing ** Intermediate People's Court: As for the 150,000 yuan, because the two parties had previously communicated about the amount of the bride price, the payment time was after the two parties communicated about the amount of the bride price, and the two parties had explicitly acknowledged it as bride price in their chat records, we believe that this 150,000 yuan can be regarded as part of the bride price previously agreed upon by the two parties.

　　Return of bride price requires comprehensive consideration of cohabitation and childbearing, etc.

　　The judge stated that the return of bride price is a complex issue involving various factors such as whether the man and woman have registered their marriage, whether they have lived together, and whether they have had children, and it must also be comprehensively considered in light of local customs, local living standards, and other factors, with the aim of maximizing the balance of interests between the two parties. How exactly do the "new bride price rules" provide for this?

　　Article 5 of the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Bride Price Disputes" provides:

　　If both parties have completed marriage registration and lived together, and one party requests the return of bride price given according to custom upon divorce, the people's court generally will not support it. However, if the period of cohabitation is relatively short and the amount of bride price is excessively high, the people's court may, based on the actual use of the bride price and the situation of the dowry, comprehensively consider facts such as the amount of the bride price, the cohabitation and childbearing situation, and the faults of both parties, and in light of local customs, determine whether to return it and the specific proportion to be returned.

　　Then, if both parties have not completed marriage registration but have already lived together, how should the bride price be handled? The judge introduced that according to the "new bride price rules," in such a situation the people's court must determine based on the actual use of the bride price and the situation of the dowry, comprehensively considering facts such as the cohabitation and childbearing situation and the faults of both parties. Another case they tried was as follows: after cohabiting for two years, Xiao Zhang and Xiao Fang held a wedding in Xiao Zhang's rural hometown, but the two did not register their marriage. In accordance with the pre-marital bride price agreement, after the wedding Xiao Zhang's mother, by borrowing money from relatives and friends, transferred 100,000 yuan to Xiao Fang. Half a year later, the two broke up due to a conflict over purchasing a house, and they had no children. The court ultimately ordered the woman to return part of the bride price to the man.

　　Judge Liang Rui of the Beijing ** Intermediate People's Court: In this case we took into consideration, first, that the amount was relatively large, and second, that the man's family was from a rural area and had borrowed money from relatives and friends multiple times in order to pay the bride price, which placed considerable pressure on his family, so we determined at our discretion that 50,000 yuan should be returned.