Since ancient times, there has been a custom of sending bride price. In modern society, some of the bride price will be sent to the house or the car, so can the bride price be returned without a marriage certificate, to see if there is any legal basis?
1、 Can I return the bride price without a marriage certificate
As for the bride price for the purpose of marriage, it should be returned or returned in accordance with the relevant provisions of the law.
2、 What are the legal provisions of bride price
Article 10 of the interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning the application of the marriage law of the people's Republic of China (2) (hereinafter referred to as the interpretation of the marriage law (2)): if the party concerned requests to return the bride price paid according to the custom, the people's court shall support it if it is found that the following circumstances exist:
（1） Both parties fail to go through the formalities of marriage registration;
（2） Both parties go through the marriage registration formalities but do not live together;
（3） Paying before marriage and causing difficulties in the life of the payer.
The application of items (2) and (3) of the preceding paragraph shall be conditional on the divorce of both parties. '
3、 What should be paid attention to when returning the bride price
According to the judicial practice of our country, the issue of returning the bride price is quite complicated, and the following issues need to be paid attention to:
1. If the bride price is paid before marriage, divorce must be taken as the prerequisite before the request for return can be considered. If after the payment of the bride price, during the marriage relationship, the payer requests to return the payment, it will not be supported, because at this time, the husband and wife are still as a community, following the joint ownership of the husband and wife's legal property. If the party concerned puts forward such a request at the same time of the divorce proceedings, and the court allows the divorce, it may, according to the circumstances, make a request for whether to support the return of the bride price; if the judgment forbids the divorce, it cannot support the party's request for the return of the bride price.
2. It must be the local custom of paying bride price before marriage. Generally speaking, the problem of bride price mainly exists in the vast rural areas and relatively underdeveloped economic areas in China. People marry each other according to the customs and customs. If there is no such custom in the local area, there is no question of paying the bride price. How to deal with the property that can not be identified as the bride price and belongs to the intercourse between men and women shall be dealt with by the court according to the specific situation and nature.
3. Principles to be followed in settling disputes over bride price. To decide whether the bride price should be returned or not, it is mainly based on whether the parties have entered into a marriage relationship. In principle, the bride price shall be returned if no marriage relationship has been concluded after the payment of the bride price; in principle, the bride price shall not be returned if the bride price has been married (except for some special circumstances); in principle, the bride price shall not be returned when the marriage ceremony is held according to the custom but the marriage certificate has not been obtained.
4. It is necessary to distinguish the subjective wishes of the parties when the bride price is paid. Generally speaking, the payment of bride price is often forced to be given due to the local market and social pressure. The full voluntary payment without any additional conditions belongs to the general donation behavior. If there is no special provisions, the request for returning the bride price is usually not supported.
5. The subject of payment and acceptance should be interpreted broadly. In practice, the payment of bride price is not simply a matter between men and women, often involving the exchanges between two families. It should be understood in a broad sense that the giver and the receiver of the bride price should not be limited to the men and women who are ready to enter into the marriage relationship, but should include their relatives. In real life, the bride price is often paid to the wife's family, which is rarely used for men and women's marriage; in many cases, the bride price is paid by the family with common property, or even by the family's joint debt. Considering these specific circumstances, it is not conducive to the proper settlement of such disputes if the subject of the payer and the subject of the receiver are interpreted restrictively.
6. After the payment of the bride price, the marriage registration was carried out, but the two parties did not really live together, and those who asked for the return of the bride price should be supported. After the marriage registration, if there is no common life, there will be no experience of mutual support and common life between husband and wife. In essence, the real common life has not yet begun.