Sunday, October 28, 2007

Who keeps the ring in a break-up?

Luckily when my husband asked me to marry him, I said yes and we made it down the alter. However I know several friends that were engaged, but broke-up before they were actually married. You hear a lot about well if the couple breaks up Who gets the ring? Is it considered a gift or a contract?

This became an issue recently in the Tennessee Court of Appeals, where a judge ordered a man’s former fiancĂ©e to give back the engagement ring. According to court records, Jason Crippen placed an engagement ring on Catharyn Campbell’s finger on Christmas Day 2005 and proposed. When the relationship ended and no wedding took place, Campbell kept the ring and refused to return it. A trial court ruled that engagement rings are gifts, meaning Campbell did not have to give the ring back.

Kanas has a different approach on the law: Kansas considers an engagement ring to be a "conditional gift." If there winds up being no wedding, by law it goes back to him. Several other states agree with Kansas as well.

However many states don't have any "laws or rules" on engagement rings? What do you think?

2 comments:

Alison said...

I think it depends on who initiates the break up of the engagement and the circumstances. If the guy dumped the girl, she should be able to keep it if she wishes. If she broke it off, she should give it back. Although if it were me...I'd probably give it back bc it would hurt too much to keep it.

Anonymous said...

In Maryland it is considered a conditional gift, as you put it. If there is no wedding the ring so back to the person who purchased it. Not, that I know from experience but I work for an attorney and you would be surprised how many times that question comes up.