Does the wife return bride price when asking for a divorce in Vietnam?

Reclaiming the bride price can be seen as a negative situation in society. Many people believe that bringing bride price to the bride's house is a ritual when making an engagement. Therefore, if they divorce, there is no longer any reason for the groom's family to lose and claim back that amount.

There is a real-life situation through the marriage and family dispute case No. 07/2020/HNGĐ-ST dated August 18, 2020, on divorce, property dispute with the content "Ms.S and Mr. L held a customary wedding voluntarily, registered the marriage at the People's Committee of Q commune of Vietnam, Mr. L's family gave a wedding gift to Ms. S's family 25 million VND, including 10 million VND pork money and 15 million VND in cash. In the process of living together, the couple had many conflicts, so Ms. S asked for a divorce. Mr. L thinks that if Miss S doesn't pay him, he won't agree to the divorce."

The Court commented as follows: the request for a bride price in the Law on Marriage and Family is not regulated. The wedding ceremony agreement is according to local custom, is voluntary, does not violate the prohibition of the law, is not contrary to social ethics, and is consistent with the provisions of Articles 3, 4, 5, 7 of the Civil Code of Vietnam, so it is accepted by law, the agreement is voluntarily made by both parties, to organize a wedding between Ms. S and Mr. L was held. In Official Dispatch No. 53/UBND dated August 15, 2020, of the People's Committee of Commune Q, confirming that there is no customary regulation in the locality, the bride's family must return the wedding favor and challenge money to the male family. Therefore, the fact that Mr. L believes that there is a custom in the locality to return the wedding money upon divorce is unfounded. Realizing that, according to the provisions of law, the gift of wedding money is in the form of a contract for gifting of property, the gift of a wedding gift upon marriage is mutually agreed upon by the two parties on the amount and form of giving, and no other conditions. Therefore, according to Articles 457 and 458 of the Civil Code of Vietnam, this donation takes effect from the time Ms. S receives the gift of money and kind of 25,000,000 VND given and established by Mr. Hoang Van L. Ms. S's property right. Therefore, Mr. L's request for a refund is groundless and therefore not accepted.

If the two parties can agree on the claim and return the betrothal, the story of the claim will stop. However, the groom's family wants to claim but the girl's family does not want to pay, which will lead to a dispute between the two parties.

Decree 126/2014/ND-CP of Vietnam stipulates as follows:

“Article 4. Settlement of marriage and family cases with the application of custom

If customary practices are applied to the settlement of marriage and family matters, the mediation shall be conducted by the law on grassroots mediation, encouraging the participation of reputable people in the community in mediation. community, religious dignitaries.

In case the conciliation is unsuccessful or the marriage and family practice is applied outside the scope of grassroots conciliation, the court shall settle the case according to the provisions of the civil procedure law."

However, in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 2 of this Decree, the applicable custom must be a code of conduct consistent with the provisions of Clause 4, Article 3 of the Law on Marriage and Family. That is, that marriage and family custom must be a code of conduct with clear content on the rights and obligations of the parties in the marriage and family relationship, repeated over a long period and be widely recognized in a region, domain, or community.

Therefore, the application of custom must comply with the conditions specified in Article 7 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014. According to the list of outdated practices on marriage and family that need to be mobilized to abolish or If the wife requests a divorce, the bride's family must return all the bride's gifts and other expenses, and the children must follow their father, which is a custom that needs to be abolished. Therefore, the above custom will not be considered and accepted by the Court of Vietnam to settle divorce cases.

In addition, according to the provisions of law, the gift of wedding money is in the form of a contract for gifting of property, the gift of wedding property upon marriage is agreed upon by the two parties on the amount and form of giving. and no other conditions. Therefore, based on Articles 457 and 458 of the 2015 Civil Code of Vietnam, this donation takes effect from the time the bride's family receives the wedding gift and establishes the ownership rights of the bride's family. For the above reasons, the request to reclaim the property will not be accepted by the Court.

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