What happens to the rings?
Weddings rings and the engagement ring are like anything else in a divorce: you need to know how they get "split."
As a practical matter, unless the are extremely valuable, rings don't come up very often when we settle divorce cases. But, if the issue of who gets the rings does come up in your divorce, here's what most judges will probably do.
Remember that Florida is something like a community property state. All items acquired by either spouse belong to the "marriage." That is, the value of the items gets evenly split. Since the wedding rings are acquired during the marriage--right at the time the marriage begins--the value of the rings is split. Both wedding rings belong to both parties. Maybe they get sold and the money is split. Maybe each party keeps his or her own ring if the rings are of equal value. Maybe something else. But the point is, the wedding rings belong to the "marriage."
The engagement ring, however, is usually a gift from the man to the woman given before the marriage begins. It's not "marital property." It's "pre-marital" property which belongs to the wife. The woman keeps it, and its value is not split during the divorce.
Sorry, guys.
posted by Brent @ 7:07 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
what if the couple is not married, but had the intention to marry.
They split up before marriage, have a baby together
It's not a marital question, obviously, and therefore falls outside of family law and outside my expertise. Here's my best shot at an answer:
In the old days, the law was that whoever ended the engagement lost the ring. The other person got to keep it.
The more modern view is that, since it's a gift, the recipient (the woman) gets to keep it.
But wasn't the gift in exchange for the marriage, you ask? If the marriage doesn't happen, shouldn't the ring be returned? I see where you're coming from, and so have many courts outside of Florida.
Florida courts don't seem to have have answered the question recently, though. So, to be honest, in a non-marital situation in Florida, there are two possible outcomes: either the woman would keep the ring or the person who didn't break off the engagement would get the ring.
In Florida, it seems we don't know which.
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