Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you two aren’t getting married, you give the ring back. That is how a judge will always rule.

Not true. State law varies on this.

+1 Plus, the water gets muddied if the engagement ring was also given as a gift for another occasion (birthday, Valentine’s Day, Christmas).

The general rule is that it is a gift in anticipation of marriage. So the “gift” is conditioned on marriage and can be revoked.

If you can prove it was just a regular gift or your state follows a different rule than you can keep it.

Anonymous wrote:When is it appropriate to refuse to return an engagement ring if the man called it off? What circumstances warrant this?

Why would you WANT it?

Unless you were cheated on or wronged in a similar way, it’s incredibly tacky to keep the ring. Have some dignity.

1. Jewelry has a HUGE mark-up which you lose upon reselling. You will get a fraction of what he paid for it.

2. I can't imagine ever wanting to keep such an item!

So... not returning it seems strange to me. Are you so mad that you just want him to suffer?

The only time it would not be okay to give it back would be if he called off the engagement and you lost a significant amount of money on down payments for the wedding.

Man called it off because of something outrages woman did? Give it back.
Had no business buying something so expensive that it's even worth second thought. Bigger problems than a ring.
Offer to give it back, then give it away.

Anonymous wrote:If you two aren’t getting married, you give the ring back. That is how a judge will always rule.

For real? IANAL, but as a lay person, an engagement ring so very clearly reads as a gift. I can see how it has roots that are more contract-like but I would not have imagined modern courts would interpret marriage in such a transactional way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you two aren’t getting married, you give the ring back. That is how a judge will always rule.

Not true. State law varies on this.

+1 Plus, the water gets muddied if the engagement ring was also given as a gift for another occasion (birthday, Valentine’s Day, Christmas).

Anonymous wrote:I would give it back. Why would you want to emotionally hold on to it?

NP. I can see why a woman would rather sell it than give it back if fiancé cheated on her.

I would give it back. Why would you want to emotionally hold on to it?

Anonymous wrote:If you two aren’t getting married, you give the ring back. That is how a judge will always rule.

Not true. State law varies on this.

If you two aren’t getting married, you give the ring back. That is how a judge will always rule.

I mean, why do you want to keep it? Will you sell it? You won’t get much.

I think the classy move is to give it back, always. Or maybe better put, it's NOT classy to not give it back.

I guess... if we are playing... if the engagement meant a serious loss of income or finances for the jilted fiance given his "promise," and the woman (let's assume) was as a result in a precarious financial situtaion and thus needed to sell the ring? But in that case it should be a conversation. and frankly it seems like a stretch

or the ring itself is from the woman's family or something

But apparently this is a classic case taught in law schools regarding contracts (didn't go and not a lawyer, but I have a lot of friends who are)

When is it appropriate to refuse to return an engagement ring if the man called it off? What circumstances warrant this?