Happy Valentines Day from NYLI… & about that broken engagement (yes, you have to give the ring back!!)

Valentine’s Day is here, a day of hearts and flowers, candy… and sometimes, a day for marriage proposals!

But, as the wise Jonathan Swift aptly stated “Promises and pie-crust are made to be broken”.

And if the engagement is as broken as a pie crust….. what of the engagement ring?

New York Civil Rights Law section 80-b is titled “Gifts made in contemplation of marriage”…. and experience tells us that the most common gift when contemplating marriage is an engagement ring!

New York case law is clear, ruling in 1971 that an engagement ring “is in the nature of a pledge for the contract of marriage” and the recipient is required “upon demand, to return the ring on the theory that it constituted a conditional gift” (Lowe v. Quinn, 27 NY2d 397).

And, what if the breakup wasn’t mutual or even your idea? Way back in 1992, NY Courts ruled that “whether Defendant was at fault for the breakup of the engagement is wholly irrelevant to his right to recover possession of an engagement ring that he …gave to defendant in contemplation of marriage “(Gagliardo v. Clemente; 180 AD2d 551). So the diamond (or perhaps cubic zirconia!) must be returned!

So, this Valentine’s Day, if the proposal ends with a “yes,” we hope you mean it…. unlike discarded broken pie-crust, a broken engagement means a return of the ring……