For this emotional entanglement, right and wrong are put aside for the time being. However, it is not uncommon for one party to pay a breakup fee as a condition for ending the relationship. In addition to the once-raging storm that Wu Xiubo was blackmailed by his girlfriend, in daily life, there are cases of breaking up agreements between men and women and even going to court. In this regard, lawyer Liu Zhaoqing, a partner of Beijing Shi Jing (Zhengzhou) Law Firm, asked on the WeChat account of "Zhaoqing Lawyers Team" "Can I get a breakup fee after breaking up?" "Where is the red line of extortion?" Such as legal doubts.
What is a breakup fee?
"Break-up fee" is not a legal term, but a word often mentioned in life. It often means that one party pays the other party's expenses actively or passively based on moral introspection when breaking up, usually for the purpose of compensation and stop loss.
There is no clear legal provision in our country about the breakup fee or the youth loss fee. If one party voluntarily gives the other party economic compensation, the law neither prohibits nor interferes. This kind of compensation belongs to the debt of nature and has no legal effect. Whether it is really implemented depends more on moral introspection. However, if one party advocates the other party to pay the breakup fee on the grounds of love and cohabitation, the court generally does not support it; If the break-up fee agreed in marital infidelity violates the principle of public order and good customs to a certain extent, it will be more difficult to be protected by law.
What is the crime of extortion?
According to Article 274 of the Criminal Law and the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in Handling Criminal Cases of Extortion (hereinafter referred to as the Interpretation), the crime of extortion refers to the illegal possession of the victim's public or private property by means of intimidation, threat or coercion for the purpose of illegal possession.
Article 274 of the Criminal Law: Crime of extortion: whoever extorts public or private property in a large amount or repeatedly extorts it shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall also or only be fined; If the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years and shall also be fined; If the amount is especially huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years and fined.
The constitutive elements of this crime are:
(1). Subjectively, the actor has the purpose of intentionally and illegally possessing other people's public or private property;
(2) The perpetrator objectively extorts property from the victim by means of intimidation, threat or coercion.
Among them, "threat" refers to forcing the victim to dispose of property by evil accusation; "Blackmail" usually refers to grabbing something from the victim or making some excuses to force him to deliver the property.
What do you mean it's normal to ask for a breakup fee?
In other words, there are legitimate reasons and purposes for asking one party to ask the other party for property. For example, the two parties have agreed on a breakup fee agreement without violating public order and good customs; One party suffers emotional fraud from the other party; The two sides reached an agreement, and the demander paid voluntarily.
If a husband and wife cheat in marriage, does the other party have the right to demand the breakup fee returned to the third party?
In order to maintain public order and good customs, the law has strict restrictions on the property relations involved in extramarital affairs. In judicial practice, if one of the husband and wife pays the divorce fee with property during the marriage, it has actually damaged the legitimate rights and interests of the other party. If the other party sues for the return on the grounds that the gift has violated the property rights of the husband and wife, the court should generally support it.
Liu Zhaoqing's lawyer team said that it is generally effective to ask for a breakup fee in this way, but if the method is wrong, it may violate the law!
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Zhang