At present, the phenomenon of Betrothal gift based on marriage contract is still very common in most areas of our country. According to the common understanding of people, Betrothal gift is to pay more or less property to the other party after the marriage contract is concluded, as proof of a successful engagement. The accompanying problem is that there is a dispute over the return of dower when the marriage is unconsummated or when there is a de facto marriage calling for the dissolution of the cohabitation.

In judicial practice, the bride price is generally regarded as a gift, but it is not a general gratuitous gift, but should be a conditional gift. Every person who gives a betrothal gift does not want the other party to be able to marry him one day in the future, and such gift should therefore be regarded as a gift subject to a condition of dissolution, whether the act of gift can be effective depends on whether the purpose of the marriage has been achieved, if the purpose has been achieved, the act of gift will then become effective and the bride price will go to the donee; otherwise, the act of gift will lose its legal effect, the rights and obligations between the two parties are no longer in existence, and the previous property should be returned to the donor.

In the practice of life, the bride price has aroused many disputes, which is mainly reflected in the judgment of the nature of the bride price, that is, how to distinguish it from the gratuitous gift to promote the feelings of both men and women. In this regard, the author believes that betrothal gifts, dowry before marriage, as well as valuable jewelry and household appliances given by both parties during the engagement period should be considered as betrothal gifts, while jewelry, gifts and tokens given in the course of love should be considered as betrothal gifts, because they are not given for the purpose of marriage, therefore should not be part of the bride price category, if the actual marriage, the cost of the wedding should not be part of the bride price.

In general, matrimonial property disputes are usually between men and women, but when it comes to parents and other family members, the subject of liability is a different matter. The judicial interpretation of the Marriage Law (2) only stipulates that the "paying party" can claim to return the bride price, but the scope of the "paying party" is not clear. We should consider the actual receiver and user of the bride price when we determine the subject of the marriage contract property dispute. According to the living example, the establishment of the lawsuit main body can be divided into the following two kinds of situations:

First, the lawsuit main body is the man and the woman themselves: namely, the behavior main body of the bride price gift is limited to the man and the woman of the marriage contract relationship, gift used personal property to pay, and the recipient did not use it for domestic consumption. The subject of action is the man and the woman and the family members of both sides: That is, the payment of the bride price is the common property of the family, and the acceptance of the bride price is also the appearance of the family way, which involves the family members of both sides.

The current judicial interpretation provides that the bride price shall be returned to the man if the couple in the marriage contract fails to register the marriage. The author thinks that there are some defects in this regulation, mainly because of the following two reasons:

First, the existence of cohabitation relationship. In real life, many couples start cohabiting after they get engaged, and the establishment of cohabiting relationships does not guarantee that they can be maintained effectively. During this period, there will be men and women because of values, lifestyle, philosophy of life and other differences lead to the break-up of marriage, can not continue the situation, the traditional concept of our country will usually be more tolerant of the man, the damage to the woman's reputation can be irreparable. Therefore, the bride price return should also take into account the factors of cohabitation time, the harm to the woman to the minimum.

2. Consideration of fault factors. In addition to the situation of cohabitation, China's current legislation on the return of bride price has not yet taken into account the fault factor. This also damages the rights and interests of the innocent party. It's not fair, it's not convincing. Therefore, in the case of bride price return, when the guilty party requests the return of bride price, if the Party has deliberately concealed his serious illness, violent conduct or gambling, drug abuse, violated the obligations of conjugal loyalty and demanded the dissolution of cohabitation or engagement, or demanded the return of the bride price, the party's wrongdoing should be taken into account and the court should reduce the amount of restitution or even not support it in accordance with the extent of the party's fault.

The existence of a custom of bride price has witnessed the vicissitude of Chinese marriage system for thousands of years. The reason why it can last for thousands of years in China is of historical necessity, and we can not have prejudice against it. At the same time, we should also realize that the introduction of the relevant judicial interpretation is more beneficial than harmful. Due to its own characteristics of lagging behind, it can not solve all practical problems at present, but the positive role and significance of the law should not be ignored by us, we should strive to promote its improvement. At the same time, we should also face up to the problem of betrothal gifts, so as to vary from person to person, from time to time, from place to place, and combine with their own circumstances.