Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Florida

Re: Ex-fiance` retuning engagement ring.

You do have a legal right to return of the engagement ring from your ex-fiance. Florida law allows recovery by the donor if the engagement is terminated by the donee or by mutual consent of the parties. The rationale is that such presents are not absolute but are made upon the implied condition that a marriage ensue. The point was interestingly made by Justice Musmanno in Pavlicic v. Vogtsberger, 390 Pa. 502, 136 A.2d 127 (1957):

'A gift given by a man to a woman on condition that she embark on the sea of matrimony with him is no different from a gift based on the condition that the donee sail on any other sea. If, after receiving the provisional gift, the

donee refuses to leave the harbor,--if the anchor of contractual performance sticks in the sands of irresolution and procrastination--the gift must be restored to the donor. A fortiori would this be true when the donee not only refuses to sail with the donor, but, on the contrary, walks up the gangplank of another ship arm in arm with the donor's rival.'

If your ex-fiance will not return the ring voluntarily, you may have to file a lawsuit against her to have the court order her to return the ring to you.