Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Tennessee

Broken engagement, who gets/pays what?

Daughter age 25 engaged/living with twice divorced man age 34 for 1 year. Were supposed to be ''working things out'' but when she found out he's seeing other women, he got mad, told her she has 5 days to get her things out of their apartment, gathered what he considered ''his'' things up, which is everything. Can he kick her out (lease expires end of this month, both were on it prior)? Can he demand the ring back even if he broke it off? Who gets the bed, etc. they both paid for? He took everything out of her file cabinet also. He also used her credit card for business travel (she gave him a card), who pays?


Asked on 7/24/03, 1:36 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Misty D. Becker Rikard & Dobson, P.L.L.C

Re: Broken engagement, who gets/pays what?

In Tennessee, if a man gives you an engagement ring and then breaks off the engagement, the ring is considered a gift to you. As for debt or assets purchased together, they are usually split in proportion to who paid what or who used the credit card. If he used the card for business, he should pay. You may need to take him to small claims court (general sessions court) to enforce such a debt. The credit card companies will ultimately hold you responsible if you are the only one on the account.

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Answered on 7/28/03, 11:07 am


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