Man ordered to repay ex-fiancee for engagement rings

Engagement ring

A Canadian man has to repay his ex-fiancee for the cost of engagement rings he bought using her credit card.

Corinne Mckay took Mike Mclaughlin to court to get back the C$3,490 ($2,640; £2,032) he spent on the jewellery.

The pair from the province of British Columbia broke up a few months after their engagement.

The tribunal that heard the case also dismissed a counterclaim by Mr Mclaughlin arguing Ms Mckay had kept some of his belongings after the split.

The case was heard by British Columbia's Civil Resolution Tribunal, which resolves small claims disputes.

According to the tribunal's decision, released earlier this month, Mr Mclaughlin told his then-girlfriend that he wanted to buy an engagement ring and to ask for her hand in marriage.

But there was a snag. Ms Mckay told the tribunal that since he did not have his own credit card, he asked to borrow hers.

She agreed on the condition that he repay her in full for the purchase, on a payment plan of C$500 a month.

He later also purchased his own ring with matching pink gemstones and charged it to her card.

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Following the couple's breakup, Ms Mckay held onto the rings, saying she would only hand them over once Mr Mclaughlin paid her back in full.

He claimed to the tribunal that there had been no agreement that he repay Ms Mckay for the jewellery. She presented the body with messages and voice recordings between the couple that suggested otherwise.

Mr Mclaughlin also argued he should not have to pay for the entire cost of her ring.

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"He says Ms Mckay pressured him to make payments for the rings," wrote tribunal member Julie Gibson.

"There is no evidence that he has paid Ms Mckay anything for the rings, and I find that he has not."

The tribunal ruled that he had 10 days to repay Ms Mckay and that she had 10 days after that to return the rings to him.

This is not the first time an engagement ring dispute has ended up in Canadian courts.

In June 2017, a judge ruled that a woman could keep her C$19,000 engagement ring following a breakup.

The Nova Scotia woman's ex-fiance sued her for the return of the ring after the three-year relationship fell apart because of squabbles over wedding finances.