|
| |
Refusing the gift
Women traditionally refuse offers of marriage by refusing to take the offered
engagement ring. In some states of the United States, engagement rings are
considered "conditional gifts" under the legal rules of property. This is an
exception to the general rule that gifts cannot be revoked once properly given.
See, for example, the case of Meyer v. Mitnick, 625 N.W.2d 136 (Michigan, 2001),
whose ruling found the following reasoning persuasive: "the so-called 'modern
trend' holds that because an engagement ring is an inherently conditional gift,
once the engagement has been broken, the ring should be returned to the donor.
Thus, the question of who broke the engagement and why, or who was 'at fault,'
is irrelevant. This is the no-fault line of cases."
One case in New South Wales, Australia ended in the man suing his former fiancée
because she threw the ring in the trash after telling her she could keep it
despite the marriage proposal failing. The Supreme Court of New South Wales held
that despite what the man said, the ring remained a conditional gift (partly
because his saying that she could keep it was partly due to his desire to
salvage the relationship) and she was ordered to pay him its AUD$15,250 cost.[4]
Tradition generally holds that if the betrothal fails because the man himself
breaks off the engagement, the woman is not obliged to return the ring. Legally,
this condition can be subject to either a modified or a strict fault rule. Under
the former, the fiancé can demand the return of the ring unless he breaks the
engagement. Under the latter, the fiancé is entitled to the return unless his
actions caused the breakup of the relationship, the same as the traditional
approach. However, a no-fault rule is being advanced in some jurisdictions,
under which the fiancé is always entitled to the return of the ring. The ring
only becomes the property of the woman when marriage occurs. An unconditional
gift approach is another possibility, wherein the ring is always treated as a
gift, to be kept by the fiancée whether or not the relationship progresses to
marriage. Recent court rulings have determined that the date in which the ring
was offered can determine the condition of the gift. e.g. Valentine's Day and
Christmas are nationally recognized as gift giving holidays. A ring offered in
the form of a Christmas present will likely remain the personal property of the
recipient in the event of a break up.[5]
In the United Kingdom, the gift of an engagement ring is presumed to be an
absolute gift to the fiancée. This presumption may be rebutted however by
proving that the ring was given on condition (express or implied) that it must
be returned if the marriage did not take place, for whatever reason. This was
decided in the case Jacobs v Davis [1917] 2 KB 532.
References
|
