Under Indiana law, courts have viewed the exchange of an engagement ring from the donor (the one proposing and offering the ring) to the donee (the one receiving the ring) as a conditional exchange, premised on the consummation of an act – marriage. Therefore, under this view, if the marriage is not completed as originally intended by the parties, then the original condition has not been met, and the donor is entitled to the return of the ring. The Indiana Supreme Court walked through this analysis in a case called Fowler v. Perry (830 N.E.2d 97 (2005)). The Court began with a discussion of inter vivos gifts –those gifts that are given absolutely, with no expectation of return and no conditions attached. These are the types of exchanges most people normally associate with the term “gift.” The court found that an absolute gift exchange of this type occurs when the following conditions are met:
- The donor intends to make a gift;
- The gift is completed with nothing left undone;
- The property is delivered by the donor and accepted by the donee; and
- The gift is immediate and absolute.
The Court further found, however, that the exchange of engagement rings, in most cases, did not meet these conditions. Rather, the court held that engagement rings were given by one party to another in anticipation of a future event, namely, marriage. That means that such an exchange is conditional upon that event occurring. The Court stated: “marriage is an implied condition of the transfer of title to the ring and, thus, the gift does not become absolute until the marriage occurs.” Therefore, if marriage does not occur, the donor is entitled to the return of the engagement ring. It should also be noted that the court adopted a “no-fault” approach to this rule. This means that, in most cases, the donor will be entitled to the return of an engagement ring regardless of which party breaks off the engagement.
Therefore, in most engagement scenarios where one party has decided not to proceed to marriage, the donor will be entitled to a return of the engagement ring.
NOTE
All legal references are made with respect to Indiana law. Please check the laws of your local jurisdiction if you live in another state.
The articles in this blog are for informational purposes only. No attorney-client relationship is established through the publication of these articles.
