Mass. Law Changes Old Diamond Ring Rule

If an engagement goes bad and the wedding is called off, who gets the ring? This is an age old question and the answer surely matters if the ring is a ton of money!

A nearly 62 year-old law was changed in the commonwealth of Massachusetts last week when a supreme court judge ruled in favor of a man who got his $70,000 ring back.

Massachusetts Engagement Ring Law

The old law states if the giver of the ring is at fault in why the wedding was called off, the receiver can keep it.

More than six decades ago, the court found that an engagement ring is generally understood to be a conditional gift and determined that the person who gives it can get it back after a failed engagement, but only if that person was “without fault." -nbcboston.com

In the recent Johnson vs. Settino case, where alleged cheating and abuse was said of the receiver(Settino) of a $70,000 engagement ring, the court ruled in favor of the giver (Johnson).

We now join the modern trend adopted by the majority of jurisdictions that have considered the issue and retire the concept of fault in this context; where, as here, the planned wedding does not ensue and the engagement is ended, the engagement ring must be returned to the donor regardless of fault. -mass.gov

You bought it, you own it. If the wedding gets called off, regardless of fault, it still goes back to person who bought it and proposed.