A British Columbia woman has been ordered to repay her former fiancé over $5,000 for an engagement ring that was not returned and remains unaccounted for, according to a recent civil resolution tribunal decision.
Background of the Case
Megan Klenman and Krystol Bullock were in a long-term relationship when Klenman proposed in March 2020 with a ring valued at $4,859.68. The relationship soured by August of the same year, leading Klenman to step back, but both parties agreed that Bullock would keep the ring temporarily. The relationship ended permanently two years later.
Text Messages and Requests for Return
Klenman presented a series of text messages as evidence, showing repeated requests for the ring's return and Bullock's promises to do so. In one exchange, Klenman asked Bullock to send the ring via courier, but Bullock declined, stating she did not want to risk it being lost. Three weeks later, Bullock messaged Klenman, saying she needed to be at peace with the end of their relationship before returning the ring. However, later that same day, she sent another message claiming she no longer had the ring and that Klenman could search through boxes in her garage to find it. Two weeks after that, she again claimed not to have the ring.
Legal Ruling
Provincial laws dictate that if an engagement ends before marriage, the ring must be returned to the purchaser. Since the couple did not cohabitate, the division of property under the Family Law Act did not apply. Tribunal vice chair Kandis McCall noted that Bullock's statements were contradictory. Bullock argued that the messages were taken out of context because Klenman had blocked her on communication platforms, but McCall stated that Bullock failed to explain what the context would show or how missing messages would prove the ring was returned.
Bullock also claimed that Klenman had taken the ring during a 2020 argument, supported by a written statement from her daughter. However, McCall gave this little weight because the daughter was not in the room and could not have witnessed the alleged taking. McCall concluded that Bullock's memory contradicted her later messages, where she acknowledged having the ring and promised to return it when she found peace.
As a result, Bullock was ordered to pay Klenman $5,000 for the value of the ring, plus associated costs.
