Wedding rings and engagement rings are often a significant investment. Even at the low end, people generally pay hundreds or thousands of dollars. Some invest tens of thousands into these rings to symbolize the importance of their new relationship.
This means things can get contentious if the couple breaks up. Who owns the ring, and who gets to keep it during property division? What if the ring was purchased on a payment plan and all the payments haven’t yet been completed? How should these assets—or even debts—be divided?
When does the relationship end?
The timeline of events is very important in these types of cases.
For instance, perhaps the couple never got married at all, but simply broke off an engagement. In that case, the ring is probably viewed as a conditional gift and needs to be returned to the person who gave it since the condition of marriage was never met.
On the other hand, perhaps the couple got married and is now getting divorced years later. This could mean that the ring belongs to the person who received it or that it is at least a marital asset.
In some cases, couples will get married at a simple ceremony and buy a ring after the fact. If they purchased it together, then it is almost certainly a marital asset that they both own jointly.
Complicated property division
As you can see, rings can be both expensive and complicated assets during a divorce. This is just one example of how the property division process can grow complex, so be sure you know what legal rights you have if you’re working through that process this year.