Is it possible to get back the money, gold given in the wedding when divorced in Vietnam?

Typically, in the judgment 75/2018/DS-ST dated July 5, 2018 on the dispute to reclaim donated property by the People's Court of Co Do district, Can Tho city, the first instance trial of the case:

Le Van X and Luong Thi Thien T loved each other and agreed to get married, so Ms. H spoke to Ms. Ha Thi S, Luong Thi Thien T's biological mother, to discuss the wedding ceremony. Ms. S asked (by phone) for a market fee of 50,000,000 VND, because she loved her children, Ms. H agreed. Ms. S said that she would hold a large wedding ceremony, but did not say how many tables and how much for each table. After she gave the market money, on the wedding day, Ms. S only served 5 tables (including 15 people from her house).

In addition, before the wedding day of X and T, she gave her son Le Van X an amount of 20,000,000 VND to take pictures, film, make up the bride, and buy a table for the wedding day. But after getting married, T lived for about 1 month, then voluntarily left T's parents' house to live. Now X and T are divorced, so Ms. H filed a lawsuit with the following requirements:

+ Request Ms. S to pay the amount of VND 50,000,000 to organize the wedding ceremony for Mr. Le Van X and Ms. Luong Thi Thien T because Ms. S has broken her promise in organizing the wedding.

+ Requesting the defendant Ms. Luong Thi Thien T to pay 20,000,000 VND to take photos, videos, make-up the bride, and the table at the wedding between Mr. Le Van X and Ms. Luong Thi Thien T because Ms. did not fulfill her duty as a daughter-in-law.

At the first-instance judgment, the court made a decision: Not to accept Ms. Cao Thi Bach H's request to sue over the dispute "claiming donated property" against Ms. Ha Thi S and Ms. Luong Thi Thien T.

The Court's decision is in accordance with the law, because:

Firstly, about the agreement on the amount of VND 50,000,000 to take care of the wedding party for the bride's family and entertain guests of the groom's family when coming to pick up the bride:

+ This is completely consistent with the traditions and customs and practices of the state on marriage. At the same time, the law does not stipulate that the groom's family must give money to the bride's family to organize the wedding, so the amount of 50,000,000 VND is agreed upon by the parties and the groom's family voluntarily hands over the money.

+ Pursuant to Articles 3, 4, 5, 7 of the 2015 Civil Code of Vietnam, individuals are allowed to freely negotiate, as long as they do not violate the prohibition of the law and do not violate social ethics. The parties may apply the custom to regulate their civil relations if the applied custom is not contrary to the basic principles of civil law specified in Article 3 of this Code. Therefore, the agreement on the amount of money for the wedding as above is completely consistent with the law on the application of wedding customs and practices.

Secondly, about reclaiming the money for the wedding reception for the bride's family and the reception of guests of the groom's family when coming to receive the bride: based on Article 166 of the 2015 Civil Code on the right to claim the property as well as customs and practices, there is no stipulates that when the husband and wife divorce, the bride's family is responsible for returning the money that the groom's family has given to organize the wedding ceremony. Moreover, in fact, the bride's family also used this money to organize the wedding ceremony and the wedding ceremony was completed. Therefore, the groom's family's request to pay this amount is groundless.

Article 166. The right to reclaim property

1. Owners and/or holders of other property-related rights shall have the right to request the persons possessing, using or receiving benefits from the property without a legal basis to return such property.

2. The owner of a property has no right to reclaim such property that is in the possession of a holder of other property-related rights.

Thirdly, about the request to reclaim the money for photography, filming, bridal makeup and buying a wedding tray: this is the amount that Mr. X's family voluntarily pays for their marriage. The wedding has taken place, and the expenses have also been paid, so it is not right to claim this money back when the divorce is done.

Thus, even though Ms. T and Mr. X have only been married for a month, it is completely inappropriate to claim back the wedding money given to the bride's family, as well as the money for bridal makeup, filming, etc. with the customs, practices and laws of the state, when in fact the marriage is completed, the two have a marriage certificate.

Therefore, people need to think carefully about their feelings before deciding to get married to someone. In order to avoid the breakdown of marriages when they have not been married for a long time.