Massachusetts Court Jurisprudence: Wedding Ring Must Be Returned If Marriage is Void

  

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By:

Team of Hukumindo

Previously, the www.hukumindo.com platform has talk about "A Young Woman From England, Falls In Love With a Con Man Named Lord Bertie", "Amazing, Public Road Transformed Into Garage", you may read also "A Wife in India Asked For a Divorce Because Her Husband Rarely Bathed" and on this occasion we will discuss about 'Massachusetts Court Jurisprudence: Wedding Ring Must Be Returned If Marriage is Void'.

Massachusetts' highest court recently ruled that an engagement ring worth US $ 70,000 or around IDR. 1 billion must be returned to its giver, without considering who caused the marriage to be annulled.  This case involves Bruce Johnson, who gave the diamond ring to Caroline Settino. Their relationship ended after Johnson found suspicious messages on Settino's cellphone. Johnson ultimately broke off the engagement after finding messages showing Settino's communications with another man.[1]

Initially, a lower court allowed Settino to keep the ring, finding Johnson had wrongly accused him of having an affair.  However, appeals courts, and ultimately the Massachusetts Supreme Court, reversed the ruling, stating that Johnson was entitled to get the ring back. The court explained that 'the engagement ring was a conditional gift related to the marriage agreement'.  If the marriage is annulled, the giver of the ring is entitled to its return, regardless of who was responsible for the end of the relationship. This ruling ends the long-standing standard of considering fault in determining entitlement to an engagement ring.[2]  

Following modern legal trends, Massachusetts courts have now joined most other jurisdictions in the US in rejecting the concept of fault in determining ownership rights to an engagement ring if the marriage is void.[3] And if you have any legal issue in Indonesia territory, contact us for business inquiry, feel free in 24 hour, we will be glad to assist you. 

*) For further information please contact:

Mahmud Kusuma Advocate

Law Office

Jakarta - Indonesia.

E-mail: mahmudkusuma22@gmail.com

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References:

1. "Pengadilan Massachusetts: Gagal Menikah, Cincin Tunangan Rp 1 Miliar Wajib Dikembalikan", www.kompas.com, Tito Helmawan Reditya, 10 November 2024, Diakses pada tanggal 20 November 2024, Link: https://www.kompas.com/global/read/2024/11/10/140000070/pengadilan-massachusetts--gagal-menikah-cincin-tunangan-rp-1-miliar-wajib#google_vignette

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.