Who owns the engagement ring after a breakup?

Who owns the engagement ring when a wedding is called off?

That’s a question for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court which heard arguments in a lawsuit on Sept. 6 involving a dispute over an engagement ring, according to the Boston Globe.

At the center of the case is Bruce Johnson and his ex-fiancée Caroline Settino, whom he is suing for ownership of the engagement ring given to her on the night of the proposal. The ring, from Tiffany & Co., is worth over $70,000, according to legal documents. 

Johnson called off the engagement after he found text messages on Settino’s phone with another man, and accused her of having an affair. Settino said the man was a platonic friend, but Johnson demanded the ring back, according to the Globe.

In Massachusetts, “the giver of the ring is entitled to have it returned if the engagement is ‘terminated without the fault of the donor,’” the Globe wrote, citing the 1959 court case of DeCicco v. Barker.

The trial court’s ruling found there was no affair, and Johnson was at fault for calling off the wedding, the Globe wrote. Last year, an appeals court reversed the decision instead siding with Johnson.

Settino’s attorneys are now asking the SJC to restore the original ruling and change how the state approaches such disputes.

“Settino’s filing argues that courts should not be ‘arbiters of the demise of romantic relationships,’ and calls for the SJC to follow the state of Montana in making engagement rings irrevocable gifts,” the Globe wrote.

Johnson and his legal team are countering this stance by claiming that “the no-fault conditional gift theory is the right approach because it protects the institution of marriage by preserving the uniqueness of the engagement ring as opposed to any other gift.”

This case brings to surface the intricacies of gender politics, with the potential to change a legal precedent set more than 60 years ago. There is no current date set for the decision.

We want to know: Who do you believe is the rightful owner of an engagement ring? Fill out the survey below or send an e-mail to [email protected], and your response may appear in an upcoming Boston.com article.