The engagement ring: Whose property is it?

• Author: Ho, Juliana

As William Shakespeare once wrote "The course of true love never did run smooth." What happens when relationships turn sour and questions arise about property that a couple may have acquired together prior to marriage or given as gifts to one another? If diamonds are forever, does the bride-to-be get to keep the engagement ring when the wedding is called off?

On January 6, 2015, The Toronto Star featured a story about a now-separated twenty-something couple in Ottawa, who brought a bitter property dispute to the Ontario Superior Court. In this case, the groom's family gave the bride half ownership of a home worth $1 million as a wedding gift, which they then sought to reclaim when the marriage disintegrated a year and a half later, suggesting that the gift was conditional upon the parties staying married and continuing to "reside in the property as a matrimonial home." The bride, in turn, argued that her share was an absolute gift that was not conditional upon any need to remain in the marriage in order to keep ownership.

Based on the facts of the case, the court held that the following components of a valid gift as set out in McNamee v. McNamee, 2011 ONCA 533 (CanLII) were met:

1. An intention to make a gift on the part of the donor, without consideration or expectation or remuneration;

2. An acceptance of the gift by the donee; and

3. A sufficient act of deliver or transfer of the property to complete the transaction

According to Justice Smith, the only "expectation" involved here was that the couple would marry, not that they would remain married indefinitely. Because there was no documentary evidence that supported the family's claim that the bride had agreed to conditions that would strip her of her share of the property should the marriage end, the court dismissed the claim that the bride be required to reimburse the groom's family for her share of the home.

While the circumstances of this case may seem quite specific and unique, variations of similar questions about ownership and conditional gifts are much more widely applicable than what appears on the surface. For example, if one party provides their partner with an engagement ring with the intention of getting married, which party gets to claim ownership of the ring should the couple never make it to the altar?

A short survey of different sources seems to indicate that opinions vary widely across Canadian jurisdictions. According to Toronto-based civil litigation attorney Anna Wong...