If the marriage is not registered and held, it does not belong to the legal marriage relationship. Both parties belong to the cohabitation relationship. If the cohabitation relationship is dissolved, the betrothal gifts should be returned. In practice, the court generally holds that the payment of betrothal gifts is a kind of gift taking marriage as the condition of achievement; When it comes to returning betrothal gifts, three aspects should be considered:
 1. The length of time that both parties live together;
 2. Specific reasons for not going through marriage registration;
 3. The practical use of betrothal gifts.
 Although it meets the conditions of returning the betrothal gifts, it does not mean that the betrothal gifts will be returned in full. When deciding on the amount of return, the people's court will generally determine the proportion of return according to the length of life of both parties, whether they have children, the use of property, the economic status of both parties, the size of the amount of betrothal gifts, the size of the fault, etc.
 [Legal Basis]
 Article 5 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Marriage and Family Code of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (I), if a party requests the return of the betrothal gifts paid according to custom, the people's court shall support it if it is found that the following circumstances exist:
 （1） Both parties have not gone through marriage registration procedures;
 （2） Both parties have gone through the marriage registration procedures but do not live together;
 （3） Premarital payment leads to difficulties for the payer.
 The application of the provisions of sub paragraphs (2) and (3) of the preceding paragraph shall be conditional on the divorce of both parties.