Mr. Zhou and Ms. Feng were married in 1994. In 2020, Mr. Zhou met Ms. Zeng online and quickly established a relationship. During this period, under Ms. Zeng's诱导, Mr. Zhou secretly sent money to Ms. Zeng to her WeChat account, through bank transfers, and by giving gifts, among other means. In 2023, Ms. Feng accidentally discovered the relationship between Mr. Zhou and Ms. Zeng and confronted him face-to-face, only to find out that Mr. Zhou had made multiple transfers to Ms. Feng with special amounts such as "520," and had contacted her to demand the return of the money. However, Ms. Feng immediately canceled her WeChat account and disappeared.

Subsequently, Ms. Feng found the Dao Hua Family Law Firm through a friend's introduction and entrusted Tang Yunhong, a lawyer, to sue the third party to ensure her property interests.

II. Dispute Focus and Case Handling Process

(I) After Tang Yunhong lawyer got involved in the case, she understood the case situation and clarified the details of the transfers:

This case is a dispute over the invalidation of a gift contract. With her extensive experience in family and marriage litigation, Tang Yunhong quickly identified two key issues in the case:

1. Did Mr. Zhou and Ms. Zeng establish a romantic relationship?

Since Mr. Zhou and Ms. Zeng terminated their relationship, there were no saved chat records between them, and Ms. Zeng actively canceled the WeChat account, making it difficult to collect evidence.

2. How much money should Ms. Zeng return for the gift property?

During the case details, Tang Yunhong learned that Mr. Zhou had also sent multiple gifts to Ms. Zeng through online shopping, making up a complex composition of gift property that included bank transfers, cash deposits, and online shopping items, which placed a heavy burden on our evidence collection.

(II) Based on the focus of the case dispute, a litigation plan was formulated:

1. Tang Yunhong and her team carefully reviewed the transfer records between Mr. Zhou and Ms. Zeng, found multiple "520" special amounts and transfers on special holidays, and submitted an application for investigation and collection of evidence to confirm that the WeChat account was in Ms. Zeng's name, thereby proving the romantic relationship.

2. According to the provisions of the Civil Code of our country, if the gift is invalid and cannot be returned, it should be returned at a discounted price. Tang Yunhong, through the organized online shopping orders, proved that the online shopping items had indeed been received by Ms. Zeng, and it should be presumed that she accepted the gift. The part of the gift should be returned at a discounted price.

(III) In court, they argued fiercely and fought for justice.

This case was heard in the First Instance Court of Futian District, Shenzhen. Tang Yunhong, with her meticulous analysis and rational arguments, successfully proved the extramarital affair between Mr. Zhou and Ms. Zeng and determined the invalidity of the gift contract.

III. Outcome of the Case

The Futian District People's Court of Shenzhen City rendered a judgment on March 3, 2025, with the following favorable judgment:

IV. Experience in Handling the Case

In marriage cases, it is not uncommon for one party to violate the duty of fidelity and infringe upon the joint property of the couple. Joint property is an indivisible whole, jointly owned by both parties. The act of one party making a substantial gift of the joint property to a third party is contrary to the provisions of the Civil Code and violates public order and good customs, which is intolerable by social morality. The Interpretation (II) of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Marriage and Family Article of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, promulgated and implemented this year, also explicitly stipulates that if one party to the marriage violates the duty of fidelity and makes a gift of the joint property to another person, and the other party claims that such civil legal act violates public order and good customs and is invalid, the people's court shall support such claim. Before the promulgation of the above interpretation, although there were no explicit provisions for such cases, there were numerous cases across the country supporting the original spouse's lawsuit to recover the property. Therefore, it is crucial for the original spouse, as the victim, to safeguard their property interests.

Tang Yunhong Lawyer believes that in handling cases of protecting marital property, one must be meticulous and rigorous in the process of evidence collection, litigation, and legal application to fully support our claims with detailed evidence and to achieve the client's demands to the greatest extent.

（Attorney Tang）

V. Legal Regulations

1. Article 157 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China: Civil legal acts shall be invalid, and the property acquired by the act shall be returned; if it cannot be returned or there is no need to return it, it shall be compensated at a fair price. The party at fault shall compensate the other party for the losses suffered; if both parties are at fault, they shall bear corresponding responsibilities.

2. Article 1062 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China [Common Property of Husband and Wife] During the existence of the marriage relationship, the following property acquired by the husband and wife shall be considered as common property, jointly owned by both:

(1) Salaries, bonuses, and remuneration for labor services;

(2) Profits from production, operation, and investment;

(3) Profits from intellectual property rights;

(4) Property inherited or gifted, except for the exceptions stipulated in paragraph 3 of Article 1063 of this Law;

(5) Other property that should be jointly owned.

The husband and wife have an equal right to dispose of the common property.

3. Article 7 of the Interpretation (II) of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Marriage and Family Article of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China: If one party of the marriage, for the purpose of bigamy, cohabitation with others, or other violations of the duty of fidelity between the husband and wife, gifts the common property to others or disposes of the common property at an obviously unreasonable price, and the other party claims that such civil legal act violates public order and good customs and is invalid, the People's Court shall support the claim and handle it in accordance with Article 157 of the Civil Code.

Dahua Family Law Firm, with ten years of focus on ·marriage and family legal services related to large-scale property, is a实战 expert in marriage inheritance and family disputes (mediation/trial), and one of the influential brands in [Shenzhen local] marriage inheritance and wealth management legal services. The team has handled over 1000 cases of marriage inheritance, and has rich practical experience in mediation and litigation in large and complex marriage and family disputes, inheritance disputes, will drafting, and family wealth distribution. The team is skilled in handling difficult divorce property division cases involving Shenzhen small property rights houses, village committee shares, will drafting and notarization, and inheritance disputes, winning unanimous praise from clients.

Adhering to the philosophy of "guaranteeing asset security, preventing legal risks, and empowering wealth growth", the firm gathers experts from the legal, banking, insurance, and tax industries, with a wealth of successful cases, providing a comprehensive one-stop solution for marriage and family and wealth inheritance for high-net-worth individuals (including Hong Kong, Macau, and foreign nationals), to achieve the beautiful vision of risk prevention and control, debt isolation, and family wealth inheritance. Asset types cover: real estate (residential houses, small property rights houses, land use rights, etc.), various property rights and interests (equities, debts, relocation compensation, copyrights, invention patents, etc.). The team has compiled the "Dahua Marriage and Inheritance Successful Case Compilation" and "Legal Practice of Family Wealth Transmission", achieving outstanding achievements in both legal practice and theoretical research.