The United States lacks a uniform law regarding what is to be done with engagement rings during a divorce. While there are more expensive assets, rings can cost thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars. Additionally, because of what they symbolize, they can often be points of contention during the property division process. Since there is no set law, courts consider many different factors. They tend to look at engagement rings in one of two ways, which are as follows: 1. The ring was an absolute gift. In these cases, the court determines that you decided to present the other person with the gift, and it then became your spouse’s possession. You gave up all rights to it at that point, and you can’t ask for it back because ownership was transferred. 2. The ring was a conditional gift. In these cases, the court may decide that you only gave the ring as a gift with a condition, which you stated at the time when asking your spouse to marry you. If your spouse is now breaking off that marriage, you may be able to argue that the condition was broken and so the gift should go back to you; it was only to belong to your spouse as long as the marriage lasted. Now, there are other factors and stances to be considered, such as whether or not fraud was involved—if someone said “yes” to the proposal just to take the ring, planning all along to ask for

With all of the paperwork that must be done and the decisions that must be made when going through a divorce in Massachusetts, it is possible to forget about certain things or overlook them. When it comes to marital assets, though, it’s important to remember everything so that you don’t lose out during the process of property division. Here are a few key things to remember: 1. Employee benefits. This could include a pension plan, for example, which may need to be divided for the future. 2. Carryover totals for a capital loss. These can be used in future years for tax purposes and could have an impact on what is owed or refunded. 3. End-of-life purchases. For example, a couple may have purchased a cemetery plot. Funerals and burial expenses are only getting more costly every year. 4. Collectible items. Some memorabilia—like a signed football jersey or an autographed guitar—can be worth quite a bit. Be sure to look through the storage carefully for items that may have been forgotten. 5. Memberships that are paid in advance. This could be a membership to a yacht club, a country club, or something else of this nature. 6. Gifts from a spouse. Technically, even if a gift was given from one spouse to the other, it still counts as marital property that is owned by both people. As such, it can be divided along with other assets. This is true for gifts given after the wedding day, but not for any