Last week, news broke of the separation between Love Island’s power couple, Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury. The reality TV duo, both 25, met on the 2019 series and have become some of the UK’s most well-known and beloved influencers, Molly-Mae in particular, with a combined Instagram following of 13.6 million.
As a result of the couple’s impressive social media following together, along with various brand deals and business ventures, the couple have amassed an estimated net worth of £9 million. Their relationship steadily progressed off screen with them welcoming their first child, a daughter named Bambi, in January 2023. The couple became engaged in July 2023, with Tommy having planned a lavish proposal in Ibiza, which saw him proposing with a beautiful 5-carat, oval engagement ring. Experts have estimated that this ring is likely to have cost £600,000.
It is, therefore, no surprise that since the couple’s separation, a commonly asked question circulating online is “Who will keep the ring?”.
Traditionally, an engagement ring was seen to be a contractual agreement to marry, meaning that if an engagement was ‘called off’, legal action could be taken for breach of promise to marry. However, the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1970, section 3 (2) removed this concept, setting out that an engagement ring is to be considered an absolute gift unless there is clear evidence of an agreement that it should be returned if the engagement was to be called off.
The only exception to this would be if the ring is a valuable family heirloom. In these instances, the courts have occasionally departed from the presumption that the engagement ring is an absolute gift and have ordered the return of the ring. It would be sensible for couples to consider entering into a Pre-Nuptial agreement to set out what should happen to a valuable family heirloom in the event of a cancelled engagement or in the event of a divorce.
Whilst we do not know the particular circumstances surrounding Molly-Mae and Tommy’s engagement, we can presume that Molly-Mae will likely retain her engagement ring unless Tommy can provide evidence that this was given on the condition that it would be returned if the marriage did not take place. Therefore, it will be entirely up to Molly-Mae whether she keeps the ring or returns it to Tommy.
If you have any queries about the legal implications of calling off an engagement or wish to discuss options for the return of an engagement ring if the marriage does not proceed or if it ends in divorce, please do not hesitate to contact Catherine Lowther, Managing Associate in our family team at cel@swinburnemaddison.co.uk to discuss the options available to you. Alternatively please call 0191 384 2441 to speak to our family department.
