Broken Engagement- Who Keeps the Ring
Both New York tabloids picked up this weekend on a widely reported case involving a broken engagement and the return of an engagement ring. (Finance Hits Rock Bottom and Fiance is “Gift” Rapped.) For purposes of complete disclosure, I represented the husband-to-be
In this case, the husband-to-be sought to recover a large diamond engagement ring given to his ex-finance, who broke off the engagement. The woman was allowed to keep the valuable ring.
An engagement ring is a gift made in contemplation of marriage. That is, the gift is conditioned upon the marriage actually taking place. If the marriage takes place, the condition is satisfied, and the woman is permitted to keep the ring. Conversely, if the marriage does not occur, the would-be-bride must return the ring.
So why was the woman, who broke off the engagement, allowed to retain the engagement ring? Because, there is an exception to the general rule: if a man is already married, he cannot legally contract to wed. The condition for giving the ring cannot be satisfied. Therefore, the woman is entitled to retain the purported gift made in contemplation of marriage even if the parties never wed.
The recent case was interesting because the man actually had been granted a divorce in Massachusetts, one month before he gave his fiancee the engagement ring. However, unlike New York, where the parties are free to re-marry as soon as the judgment of divorce is entered, in Massachusetts, the divorce does not become absolute until the passage of some time.
Although the man had successfully done everything that had to be done in order to obtain a divorce, that the divorce had been granted and that that all that was required for the divorce to become absolute was the passage of time, the Court ruled that the man was impaired from remarrying. Therefore, he was not entitled to the return of his ring.
The moral- Do not become engaged unless and until you are legally divorced
Hi: just a fast question. I am from Texas and I broke up with my fiancee, is she entitled to keep the engagement ring? What if she sold it already? Thanks for any info that you can provide.
I am from Texas. My fiancee left me, there was no cheating and i didn't tell her to " get out ". We agreed that there wasn't enough love shown to each other. I have never been married, she has been 3 times. Also, prior to her leaving she spent three months hooked on an antidepressant she acquired over the internet which made her " just not care ". Am i entitled to the ring?
I have been married 4 years and goin gthrough a divorce now in New York. My husband says since he gave me the ring before we were married, he gets it..WHat are the laws regarding this in NY??
i BROKE UP MY ENGAGEMENT...IN PHX AZ...CAN SHE KEEP THE RING??
SHE WANTED TO MARRY BUT DIDNT WANNA LIVE WITH ME...MARRIED BUT LIVING APART CPLS...I COULDNT DO IT...PLEASE HELP...