Former B.C. couple finds closure after legal fight over engagement ring
A former B.C. couple got engaged in March 2020, and over two years later, in August 2022, the relationship ended, but the engagement ring wound up between them in a legal dispute.
The details were set out in a BC Civil Resolution Tribunal dispute, which contains some good information if you ever find yourself in this situation.
According to the tribunal decision about the former B.C. couple, the applicant, MK, asked the respondent, KB, to return the ring. KB said she couldn’t find it. She also claimed it was a gift.
MK asked the B.C. tribunal for an order that KB return the engagement ring, or reimburse the $4,859.68 that MK paid for it.
The tribunal case talks a little bit about how the law in British Columbia pertains to engagement rings.
“The law in British Columbia is clear that if an engagement ends before marriage, the engagement ring is to be returned to the party who purchased it,” the decision states.
KB didn’t dispute that MK was entitled to the ring but claimed that they already had it, adding that MK took it from KB’s home.
So, the tribunal had to determine whether that was true or not.
KB said she took a step back from the relationship in August 2020 and asked then if MK wanted the ring back. They decided to stay engaged, and KB kept the ring.
In a series of text messages between the former B.C. couple that MK provided, the messages show that MK repeatedly ask KB to return the ring. In response, KB said she would return it.
On Aug. 26, 2022, MK asked KB to send the ring to them using a courier. KB denied and said she would not give a $5,000 ring to a courier. The next day, she repeated the same thing and didn’t want to take the chance that MK wouldn’t end up receiving it.
KB seemed to suggest she wanted closure before returning the ring.
The next month, on Sept. 17, 2022, KB messaged MK saying that she “needed to be at peace with the end of their relationship” before she returned it. The same day, KB said she didn’t have the ring, but that MK was welcome to go through boxes in the garage to find it.
On Oct. 1, 2022, KB said she couldn’t find the ring.
While KB didn’t dispute the accuracy of the texts, she told the tribunal that they were taken out of context, and that because MK blocked her on some platforms they used to communicate, she couldn’t obtain the messages to show the conversation’s full context.
KB said in 2020 that she removed the ring and placed it in the ring box, which was sitting on her bed. She said that MK picked up the box and said they were taking the ring. KB said she left the room, and when she returned, the ring and MK were gone.
The tribunal said that KB’s memory that MK took the ring in 2020 is contradicted by texts that were sent after that, including texts in which she acknowledged still having the ring.
The tribunal also found it more than likely that the ring was left in KB’s care. The tribunal didn’t order KB to return the ring since KB insisted she didn’t have it. Instead, the tribunal ordered KB to pay MK $5,055.80, including the engagement ring’s value and tribunal fees.