I recently got engaged and bought my fiancée a ring worth more than £1,000. But the engagement only lasted three weeks. I feel the whole thing was a deception, and now she refuses to return the ring. Am I legally entitled to get it back?
Usually a fiancée can retain an engagement ring, since it’s regarded as an outright gift. But you may be able to challenge this if the ring is a family heirloom, for example, or you can show there was deception or fraud. In the case of wedding gifts from family members however, the law generally assumes that gifts made in contemplation of marriage by one partner to the other are conditional on the marriage taking place and so should be returned if the marriage is called off.