Brother-in-law's claim for wedding gold denied by court

A Vietnamese woman, identified by the surname Ruan, sold her wedding gold jewelry to return to Vietnam following her husband's death. Her brother-in-law then sued her for NT$800,000, alleging the gold was merely borrowed for the wedding ceremony and should have been returned.

The brother-in-law, identified by the surname Lu, claimed he had purchased approximately six taels of gold jewelry in 1995 and entrusted it to his mother for safekeeping. He stated that when his brother married Ruan, a Vietnamese national, in 2010, he discovered the gold was used as a betrothal gift. Lu asserted that he had informed his brother at the time that the gold was only temporarily lent and expected its return after the wedding.

Lu further alleged that his brother never returned the gold and that Ruan sold it in Vietnam in April 2024, shortly before his brother's death in November 2025. Consequently, he filed a lawsuit seeking compensation of NT$800,000.

However, the Changhua District Court dismissed Lu's claim. The court found that Lu consistently failed to provide proof of ownership for the gold. Additionally, the court noted that Lu's inaction for over five years, from the wedding in 2010 until his brother's death in 2015, in seeking the return of the gold was inconsistent with typical behavior. The court also pointed out that while Lu presented a jewelry store receipt, it only proved the purchase of gold at a certain time and weight, not that the disputed jewelry was the specific gold he had purchased, thus failing to establish his ownership.