The engagement ring

Congratulations!

Your girlfriend has just accepted your marriage proposal and you are now placing an engagement ring on her finger. If your Relationship Bliss ends prior to the marriage, what happens to your engagement ring?

The law is different in all states, but in Florida, you are entitled to have the engagement ring returned to you.

If your fiancé does not return the ring to you, you may sue her for a Court Order that it be returned to you, or a judgment to pay you the fair market value of the ring if it is claimed to be lost, etc.

If you enter into Marital Bliss, then the minute you are husband and wife the ring now belongs to her solely, even if you divorce, because the ring is a non-marital asset since it was given to her prior to the marriage, Any assets tendered to your wife prior to the marriage are 100% hers upon divorce.

You can tell a man who has been divorced many times. When he buys an engagement ring for his most recent fiancé, there will be a fake 3-carat diamond in it. He will tell his fiancé that it is fake and that the real one has been ordered but will not be in until after the wedding, at which time the fake diamond in her ring will be replaced with the real one. This way, since the husband has purchased the diamond during the marriage, and it is now a marital asset. Thus, when divorce occurs, the husband is entitled to one-half the value of the ring.

So, for all the girls out there, beware if your fiancé gives you a fake diamond intending to replace it with a real diamond after you are married, because that means he is well versed in the law of engagement rings and is foreseeing the possibility of dissolution of your marriage. At which time, at least one-half the value of that ring will be returned to him.

Enjoy your honeymoon!