The engagement is off, can I get my ring back?

You got engaged. It’s great. Then, for whatever reason, it doesn’t work out. Who keeps the ring?

In Ohio, it depends on where you live. The second district says that if the donor is at fault for breaking the engagement, then the receiver keeps it. Every other district in Ohio has said that the donor gets the ring back no matter who broke the engagement.

Most courts have rejected a fault-based approach because of the difficulty in determining fault, and whether the reasons for terminating the engagement was justifiable. That approach would also penalize the donor for acting to prevent what may be an unhappy marriage.

If the parties marry and divorce afterwards, the engagement ring is generally considered a gift, and will be the separate property of the person who received it. It doesn’t need to be split in the divorce.

This applies to other property given in contemplation of marriage to. A general gift can’t be given back, but if a donor expressly declared that the gift was conditional on the subsequent marriage at the time it was made, the gift must be returned.

 By: Nicholas P. Weiss, Esq