Diamonds & Engagement Rings News

Marriage often has a nice ring to it.

 But this Calgary couple’s 18-month, on-off relationship turned out to be little more then a three-ring circus.

  ·         It was the third engagment ring, used in their fourth engagement and a marriage that dissolved after just nine days that became the subject of a bitter breakup battle and civil dispute between James McManus and Corina Lyndeen McCarthy. 

    In a written decision released today, court of queens Bench Justice Colleen Kenny awarded the expensive custom-made ring to be returned to the husband. Kenny said it would normally be the case that an engagement ring would be considered a gift and would not be subject to distribution between the parties on marriage breakdown. But this was indeed not a normal case, she added. From engagement to separation, the relationship did not continue it just lasted over five weeks.

    It all began with the first engagement In December 2005, when McManus purchased a ‘’relatively expensive’’ engagement ring for McCarthy. She ended the engagement and returned the ring. The same ring was used in their second engagement, which she again ended and gave back the ring, he then sold the ring at a significant loss.

    A second ring was ordered for their third engagement but in the process of it being made, he cancelled the engagement and ring, he had to pay for the work already done.

   The pair finally were engaged for a fourth time on June 20 and the husband ordered a ring according to her specifications, the one that became the subject of their break tug-of-war.

   She said that she would not marry him unless he purchased another ring. He was up for that but he made it clear to her on at least three occasions that the ring should be returned to him in the event of their relationship terminated.

   She had refused to have any discussions about the ring, and that she never had asked him to buy the ring, and in fact it didn’t matter to her whether she had a ring or not.

   The brief marriage did not go well and on July 29 the husband took the engagement ring from the bathroom counter while she was in the shower and began to leave the residence. She saw him and followed him, repeatedly asking for him to return the ring. She later phoned him and demanded for him to return the ring. She them took him to court over possession of the disputed ring.

 The husband though provided evidence of specific locations and discussions that the parties had twice before and once after receipt of the ring, wherein he made it clear that it was conditional upon their continued relationship.   

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 26th, 2007 at 12:27 pm and is filed under Engagement Rings, Diamonds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.