Does the oath break if one returns the money immediately after taking it?

As long as you swore an oath that someone should not pay any money on your behalf, and he did not fulfill your oath but insisted on paying the money for you, then an expiation for breaking an oath (kaffarat yameen) is required of you. Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked about a similar situation, and he replied that expiation is obligatory for the swearer because the person sworn upon did not fulfill his oath. As for what the man did by taking the money and then immediately returning it to you, this does not relieve you of the expiation, because the intention of your oath was that you, not your companion, should pay the price, and this did not happen. Sheikh Sulaiman Al-Majid issued a fatwa to this effect, indicating that you may take the money, and in that case, you must expiate for your oath.