During the period of cohabitation, if one party frequently makes large transfers at the request of the other party and notes "voluntary gift, no need to return", can this money be recovered when the two parties fail to enter into marriage? Recently, the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court in Xinjiang concluded a case, providing guidance for adjudicating disputes arising from large financial transactions during marriage and love.

In September 2023, Liu Xiao (pseudonym) and Wang Fang (pseudonym) met through the internet and established a romantic relationship in November of the same year, starting to live together.

Afterwards, Wang Fang repeatedly mentioned marriage related matters such as buying a house, car, and decoration to Liu Xiao, urging him to raise funds to purchase a wedding house and car.

In order to marry Wang Fang, Liu Qiang, who earns only 5000 yuan per month, continued to transfer funds to Wang Fang through selling his own house, vehicle, borrowing from relatives and friends, online loans, and other means, and noted "voluntary gift, no need to return" after some of the transfers. From November 2023 to February 2025, Liu Xiao transferred a total of over 1.41 million yuan to Wang Fang.

Liu Xiao was deeply embroiled in a debt crisis due to excessive borrowing, and multiple financial institutions and lenders pursued him through debt collection, litigation, and other means, ultimately leading to the breakup of Liu Xiao and Wang Fang. In 2025, Liu Xiao filed a lawsuit with the People's Court of Shuimogou District, Urumqi, requesting that Wang Fang be ordered to return more than 1.41 million yuan.

Wang Fang did not appear in court to respond to the lawsuit. She submitted materials to argue that all the funds were donated by Liu Xiao.

The court held that the nature of marital and romantic transactions should be determined based on the purpose and amount of the payment, the economic ability of the payer, the purpose of the funds, and the communication records between both parties. In this case, the transfers occurred at a critical stage of both parties' preparation for marriage, with distinct property attributes of the engagement.

The remark 'voluntary gift, no need to return' contradicts Liu Xiao's income level and the fact of a huge loan, and is a passive expression by Liu Qiang to promote the engagement and meet the other party's requirements, rather than a true and free expression of gift intention.

From WeChat chat records and other evidence, it can be seen that Wang Fang demanded property from Liu Xiao on the condition of being willing to get married, which led to Liu Xiao forming a wrong understanding and making a promise of property donation.

Based on relevant evidence, the court ordered Wang Fang to return more than 1.18 million yuan to Liu Qiang.

Wang Fang is dissatisfied and has appealed to the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court. The second instance court held that the core of distinguishing between marital property and ordinary gifts lies in the subjective marriage agreement and objective payment characteristics.

At the beginning of the relationship, Wang Fang led the preparation of the wedding house and car, and all financial transactions revolved around the marriage. Wang Fang continued to urge for payment and did not terminate it even after Liu Xiao was unable to afford it. Liu Xiao's transfer behavior was passive payment, and his remark "voluntary gift, no need to return" has no legal effect.

Liu Xiao has submitted a complete chain of evidence to prove the existence of a marriage agreement between the two parties, while Wang Fang has not submitted any valid evidence to support her claim, and should bear the adverse consequences of the inability to provide evidence.

Our country's laws explicitly prohibit the use of marriage to solicit property. Wang Fang's behavior violates the principles of good faith and public order, and is considered an invalid civil legal act. Based on this, the second instance court recently ruled to reject the appeal and uphold the original verdict.

This article is transferred from the WeChat official account "Shandong High Court". Thank you!