Married without a marriage license can get the money back. From the legal point of view, no marriage certificate is no marriage fact, the bride price money can be returned.
Article 10 of the Supreme People's Court's Interpretation of Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China (II) (hereinafter referred to as Judicial Interpretation (II)) provides as follows: Where a party requests the return of the bride price paid in accordance with custom, the People's Court shall support it if the following circumstances are identified:
(1) Both parties fail to go through the formalities for marriage registration;
(2) Both parties have gone through the marriage registration procedures but do not live together;
(3) Payment made before marriage and causing hardship to the payer.
The basic principle upheld by this provision is that when deciding whether the bride price is returned, the main judgment basis is whether the parties have concluded the marriage relationship.
Note: The new Civil Code will come into force on January 1, 2021, and the Marriage Law and its related interpretations will be effective until December 31, 2020, when provisions that conflict with the Civil Code will become invalid and be replaced by a new judicial interpretation.
It can be seen that in the case of no marriage registration procedures can get back the wedding gift money. Betrothal money is used as a deposit for marriage, generally speaking, the marriage is agreed, since the marriage is not performed, then the betrothal money is naturally to be recovered.