Helping son buy a house then reneging, gift contract can be revoked

[2] Compiled from: Wuxi Intermediate Court, Jiangsu High Court
 
[3] In modern society, young people face great pressure to buy a house when getting married, and parents generally provide some financial help. However, many young people regard parents' assistance with down payments or monthly mortgage payments as a "standard" or even a "natural obligation" of parents. This mindset is not supported on either moral or legal grounds.

 
 

Case review
[4] Lao Chen, 50, works in sales and recently encountered a troubling situation. He was sued by his son for failing to fulfill a promise to buy him a house. Three years ago, Lao Chen went through a divorce and later remarried, which created a rift between him and his only son, Xiao Chen.
 
[5] Later, Xiao Chen fell in love and began discussing marriage with his girlfriend. In April this year, he asked his father to fund the purchase of a wedding house. Delighted that his son was starting a family, Lao Chen immediately promised to provide the funds and soon went with his son to look at properties at a sales office. After returning home, Lao Chen calculated his finances and realized he couldn't afford it, so he told his son he would no longer contribute. Xiao Chen rushed to Lao Chen's home and had a heated argument with him. After police mediation, Lao Chen wrote a written agreement promising to contribute 1 million yuan for the house purchase.
 
[6] Later, Lao Chen failed to pay within the agreed time and repeatedly made excuses. In anger, Xiao Chen sued Lao Chen in court, demanding that his father fulfill the promise. During the trial, Lao Chen stated that he was facing business difficulties and owed significant bank loans, making him unable to provide the funds, and sought to revoke the gift. Xiao Chen insisted that the agreement was a contract for house purchase funding, not a gift contract, and thus could not be revoked.
 
The court found after trial that the agreement signed by Old Chen and his son was essentially a gift contract. A gift contract is one where the donor gives their property to the donee without compensation, and the donee accepts the gift. The donor may revoke the gift before the property rights are transferred. Since both parties confirmed that the 100,000 yuan house payment had not yet been delivered, Old Chen legally retained the right of arbitrary revocation, allowing him as the donor to revoke the gift before the property rights were transferred. Old Chen failed to pay within the agreed period, indicating through his actual actions a refusal to perform the agreement, and again expressed revocation of the gift during the trial. Therefore, the agreement in question had been revoked, and Xiao Chen had no right to demand continued performance from Old Chen.
 
Ultimately, the court legally dismissed Xiao Chen's lawsuit.
 
 
《 [1] The People's Republic of China Civil Code
Article 658
The donor may revoke the gift before the property rights are transferred.
Notarized gift contracts or those that cannot be revoked due to public welfare or moral obligations, such as disaster relief, poverty alleviation, or disability assistance, are not subject to the preceding provision.
 
[1] The author's perspective
Civil subjects engaging in civil activities must not violate the law or public order and good customs. Although most parents, based on emotion, morality, and habit, still provide housing assistance to their adult children and consider it their responsibility, this is a moral choice, not a legal obligation. In today's rapidly developing economy, many young people facing housing prices, marriage, and childbearing directly choose to "lie flat" or "mooch off their parents," while their parents bear the burden and "pay" for their happiness. As adults with full civil capacity and labor ability, they should not take their parents' love and support for granted.