Recently, the Xiacheng court in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province ruled on a marriage property dispute caused by asking for the return of betrothal gifts. Hangzhou man Xiao Zhang (a pseudonym) and girl Tingting (a pseudonym) were originally colleagues of the same unit. In 2013, Xiao Zhang confessed to Tingting, and the two officially established a love relationship.
In the next two years, their relationship continued to heat up, and the family began to help prepare for the marriage together. During this period, Tingting repeatedly euphemistically mentioned that she hoped to have her own house after marriage.
As the saying goes, the distance between the prospective son-in-law and his mother-in-law is only one suite. In order to express his sincerity and maintain his feelings, and considering that he could reduce the contradictions between his family in his future life, Xiao Zhang, who was not well-off, gritted his teeth and agreed to buy a house.
Tingting was very happy. She immediately found her cousin who worked in a real estate agency company to help. After a search, she finally selected a small house in Jianggan District, with a total price of about 1 million.
At the beginning of 2016, the two bought the house together. On the day of signing the contract, Xiao Zhang paid the down payment of 340000 yuan, and the balance was paid in the form of bank mortgage loan. Tingting, as the co owner of the house, also signed the bank loan contract.
The house was finally registered under the names of Xiao Zhang and Tingting and was jointly owned by them.
But the plan can't keep up with the changes. Unexpectedly, after Xiao Zhang and Tingting began to live together, they often quarreled over trivial things, and the contradictions intensified day by day. A year later, they decided to break up because of their different personalities, and the marriage naturally turned yellow.
They have no other economic disputes. The biggest problem is this house. Xiao Zhang believes that this suite is a 'bride price', and now the marriage can't be completed, so the bride price should naturally be returned; Tingting believes that the names of two people are registered on the real estate certificate, which is their joint investment. Since they want to break up, the house should be half for one person.
The two argued over this. Finally, a small piece of paper sued Tingting to the court and asked her to return her share of the house as a 'bride price'.
In court, the two were tit for tat and refused to give in.
Xiao Zhang said that the reason why he bought this suite at the beginning was to get married with Tingting, mainly to take into account Gu Tingting's mood. Although the house was registered under the names of two people, he paid the down payment and most of the mortgage in the later stage. Now his marriage wish has failed. Tingting should return the common share of the house, and he can give each other some compensation.
Tingting doesn't agree with this. She said that the house was not bought for marriage. It was a joint investment between her and Xiao Zhang. Moreover, if it wasn't for the help of her cousin, buying a house wouldn't be so smooth.
For the current value of the house, both Xiao Zhang and Tingting recognize that the current market price is about 1.8 million yuan.
'besides, I have also paid off the mortgage of the house for three months, a total of 14000 yuan, so I want to divide the house in half!' Tingting said that she could not own the house ownership, but Xiao Zhang must discount and compensate her for half of the share.
After hearing the case, the lower City Court held that the focus of the dispute in the case lies in the purpose for which the two sides purchased the house involved in the case, that is, whether the house is the "bride price" said by the man or the "joint investment" said by the woman.
The judge believes that if the house belongs to the joint investment behavior of two people, as Tingting said, we should pay attention to return. According to the evidence provided by both parties, Tingting only repaid the mortgage loan for three months, and Xiao Zhang was responsible for the repayment of the remaining down payment and mortgage loan, and his investment was far greater than that of Tingting. In this case, if the house is also registered in the names of two people and agreed to be jointly owned, and even both parties enjoy half of the share when dividing the house, this practice is obviously inconsistent with common sense and the usual practice of investment.
On the contrary, Xiao Zhang and Tingting were originally in love, and they both reached the marriageable age. Considering their married life, Xiao Zhang purchased the house involved in the case. In order to express his sincerity in marriage, the purchased house was registered in their names.
Considering the above situation, Xiao Zhang's theory of "bride price" is obviously more reasonable.
The court held that since the share of the house belongs to the nature of "bride price", now that the two have ended their love relationship and have not actually registered marriage, the foundation of the shared house has been lost, Tingting should return the "bride price" delivered by Xiao Zhang, that is, the share of the house they occupy.
Considering the rise in the value of the house and Xiao Zhang's willingness to give more to Tingting as compensation, the Xiacheng court finally ruled that the house was owned by Xiao Zhang and Xiao Zhang paid the house discount of 35000 yuan to Tingting.