Who gets to keep an engagement ring if a romance turns sour and the wedding is called off?
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That is what the highest court in Massachusetts was asked to decide with a US$70,000 Tiffany ring at the centre of the dispute.
The court ultimately ruled on Friday that an engagement ring must be returned to the person who bought it, ending a six-decade state rule that required judges to try to identify who was to blame for the end of the relationship.
The case involved Bruce Johnson and Caroline Settino, who started dating in the summer of 2016, according to court filings. Over the next year, they travelled together, visiting New York, Bar Harbour, Maine, the Virgin Islands and Italy. Johnson paid for the holidays and also gave Settino jewellery, clothing, shoes and handbags.
Eventually, Johnson bought a US$70,000 diamond engagement ring and in August 2017 asked Settino’s father for permission to marry her. Two months later, he also bought two wedding bands for about US$3,700.
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Johnson said he felt like after that Settino became increasingly critical and unsupportive, including berating him and not accompanying him to treatments when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to court filings.