As Heidi and Spencer illustrated with their extremely surface level relationship on The Hills, not all engagements pan out. No good friends of mine have ever called off their wedding but I did have an acquaintance in college whose engagement went sour. She was a 19-year old looking for an “established” man and she found him at the Belmont, most likely in the complex hot tub. After two weeks of impressing her with his car DVD player and other such fineries, the deal was done. He proposed with a 2.5 carat ring and she accepted wholeheartedly. After getting to know one another, in say, two months time, they came to the mutual realization that they were extremely incompatible in almost every area that counted. Then the war began over who was going to keep the ring.
Out of vengeance she declared she would keep it, sell it and buy a red sports car with the proceeds. He demanded that it was given with the expectation of a contract being fulfilled, and since the contract was voided, the goods had to be returned. After some plentiful involvement from attorneys, it was determined that she would have to return the ring.
In this article debating the ring-return question, Emily Post says that regardless of who breaks off the engagement, the ring should always be returned. But beware to any IRF readers on the verge of proposing to their Valentine this year: if a ring is given on Valentine’s Day or Christmas, courts generally rule that the ring is classified simply as a gift.
January 10, 2008 at 9:17 pm JL
The Daily Universe
Pre-Marital Ring Woes
As Heidi and Spencer illustrated with their extremely surface level relationship on The Hills, not all engagements pan out. No good friends of mine have ever called off their wedding but I did have an acquaintance in college whose engagement went sour. She was a 19-year old looking for an “established” man and she found him at the Belmont, most likely in the complex hot tub. After two weeks of impressing her with his car DVD player and other such fineries, the deal was done. He proposed with a 2.5 carat ring and she accepted wholeheartedly. After getting to know one another, in say, two months time, they came to the mutual realization that they were extremely incompatible in almost every area that counted. Then the war began over who was going to keep the ring.
Out of vengeance she declared she would keep it, sell it and buy a red sports car with the proceeds. He demanded that it was given with the expectation of a contract being fulfilled, and since the contract was voided, the goods had to be returned. After some plentiful involvement from attorneys, it was determined that she would have to return the ring.
In this article debating the ring-return question, Emily Post says that regardless of who breaks off the engagement, the ring should always be returned. But beware to any IRF readers on the verge of proposing to their Valentine this year: if a ring is given on Valentine’s Day or Christmas, courts generally rule that the ring is classified simply as a gift.
January 10, 2008 at 9:17 pm JL 11 comments