Introduction: During the existence of a marriage, the joint property of the couple is an important foundation for maintaining family stability. However, Ms. Zhang encountered her husband's extramarital affair for more than a decade, and during this time, her husband secretly transferred hundreds of thousands of yuan of joint property to a third party and purchased property for her, seriously infringing upon Ms. Zhang's legitimate rights and interests. After numerous unsuccessful communications, Ms. Zhang resolutely entrusted the case to Tang Yunhong, a lawyer, to seek legal assistance. After accepting the委托, Lawyer Tang Yunhong promptly immersed herself in the work, comprehensively collecting evidence to restore the facts of the case, and promptly took property preservation measures to freeze the real estate under the name of the third party. Ultimately, with her professional legal expertise and rigorous litigation strategy, she successfully persuaded the court to support Ms. Zhang's claims, ordering the third party to return 1.17 million yuan and interest, and helped Ms. Zhang recover significant property losses.

I. Judgment of the Court

II. Case Summary

Madam Zhang and her husband were registered as husband and wife in 1992, and their marriage has lasted for over 30 years. However, on the Spring Festival of 2025, Madam Zhang unexpectedly discovered that her husband had been involved in an improper relationship with a third party for more than a decade. What is even more infuriating to Madam Zhang is that over the past decade, her husband, without her consent, had arbitrarily transferred the joint property of the couple through bank transfers, payment of housing purchase funds, and other means to the third party, with an accumulated amount of over a million yuan, including the funds for purchasing a property for the third party. This act not only seriously violated the duty of fidelity between husband and wife but also directly infringed upon Madam Zhang's equal right to dispose of the joint property, resulting in significant losses to her legitimate property rights. After several fruitless negotiations with her husband and the third party, Madam Zhang, in order to safeguard her legitimate rights and interests, decided to resort to legal means to resolve the issue and accordingly entrusted Tang Yunhong, a lawyer, to sue the third party, demanding the return of all the gifted property.

III. Difficulties in the Case

1. How to prove the husband's improper relationship with a third party?

2. Does the property gifted belong to the joint property of the husband and wife?

3. How to determine the nature of the gift-giving act (gift, other economic transactions), and how much can be returned?

4. Dowa's Viewpoint

1. There is an improper romantic relationship between the husband and the third party.

The husband's establishment of an improper sexual relationship with a third party during the marriage not only destroys the ethical order of the marriage and family, but also violates the good custom of "mutual fidelity between husband and wife", harming family stability and public order, and is an act explicitly denied by public order and good customs.

In this case, there is a written promise confirmed by the husband, which explicitly acknowledges the improper relationship and has the strongest evidence; secondly, legally recorded confessions of infidelity; and thirdly, complete records of transfers with special amounts such as "520" and "1314" to prove the parties' improper relationship.

2. All the property gifted should be identified as the joint property of the husband and wife.

According to the relevant provisions of the "Civil Code of the People's Republic of China", the property obtained by the couple during the continuance of their marriage relationship, such as wages, bonuses, remuneration for labor, income from production, operation, and investment, shall be the joint property of the couple and jointly owned by them. In this case, the funds transferred by the husband to the third party during the continuance of the marriage relationship, as well as the funds used to purchase real estate, all originated from the joint property of the husband and Ms. Zhang. Ms. Zhang has an equal right to dispose of such property.

3. Gift agreements based on an improper relationship are invalid, and the defendant should return the gifted property

According to Article 1 of Paragraph 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 couple, for the purpose of bigamy, cohabitation with others, or other violations of the duty of fidelity between the couple, gifts the joint property of the couple to others, 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. In this case, the husband had a long-term improper relationship with the third party and gifted the joint property of the couple based on such relationship, without obtaining Ms. Zhang's consent and also violating public order and good customs. The gift act is invalid from the beginning.

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Five, Case Outcome

In the end, the court upheld all of Ms. Zhang's claims, declaring the gift agreement between the defendant and the third party invalid, and ordering the defendant to return the gifted amount of 1.17 million yuan and interest to the plaintiff. The property involved in the case has been frozen, providing a guarantee for the smooth execution of the judgment, and Ms. Zhang's legitimate property rights have been effectively protected.

Six, Insights on the Tang Code

This case is a typical dispute over the unilateral disposition of joint marital property by one party to a marriage and its gift to a third party. Both parties to a marriage have an equal right to dispose of joint property. No party may unilaterally dispose of joint marital property without the need for family joint life. In this case, the husband, in order to maintain an improper relationship with a third party, made long-term and substantial gifts of joint marital property, which not only violated the duty of fidelity between husband and wife but also seriously infringed upon the property rights of the spouse. At the same time, it went against public order, good customs, and moral standards, and the law clearly holds a negative attitude towards this.

In handling such cases, evidence collection is crucial. Lawyers need to comprehensively sort out the flow of the involved property, collect relevant evidence such as bank transfer records, housing contracts, payment vouchers, etc., to prove the nature of the property and the existence of the gift. At the same time, taking timely property preservation measures can effectively prevent the transfer of the involved property, ensuring the smooth execution of the judgment.

Here, Lawyer Tang Yunhong reminds all married couples that during the existence of the marriage relationship, they should be faithful and respectful to each other, and jointly maintain the harmony and stability of the family. If they find that their spouse has擅自 disposed of the joint property of the couple, they should promptly preserve relevant evidence and seek the assistance of a professional lawyer to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests through legal means. For the third party, do not harbor any侥幸心理; property obtained in violation of public order and good customs will ultimately not be protected by the law.

Seven, Index of Relevant Laws and Regulations

«The Civil Code of the People's Republic of China»

Article 153: Civil legal acts that violate mandatory provisions of laws or administrative regulations are invalid. However, the mandatory provisions shall not render the civil legal acts invalid unless otherwise provided.

Civil legal acts that violate public order and good customs are invalid.

Article 155: Invalid or revoked civil legal acts have no binding force from the beginning.

Article 157: Where a civil legal act is invalid, the property acquired by the actor through such act shall be returned; if it cannot be returned or there is no need to return it, compensation shall be made 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.

Article 1062: During the continuance of the marriage relationship, the following property acquired by the husband and wife shall be the joint property of the couple, jointly owned by both:

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

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