In Connecticut, courts have held that a donor may not recover the ring, where an engagement is broken owing to the fault of the donor.[1]

The theory followed by the Connecticut courts is that the ring is given on an implied condition that the marriage will take place.  The court opined in Syragakis v. Hopkins that such contracts are seldom expressed in very definite language and they are not improperly or infrequently inferred as much from the conduct of the parties toward each other as from any direct evidence of expressed stipulations.[2]

However, the modern view is that the gift of the engagement ring is a conditional gift, the condition being the subsequent marriage of the parties.  If the marriage does not take place, the condition has not been met and the ring should be returned to the donor.  In Thorndike v. Demirs, the court stated that the modern no-fault rule is clearly the better rule and comports with the modern trends on handling family matters on a no fault basis.[3]

[1] White v. Finch, 3 Conn. Cir. Ct. 138 (Conn. Cir. Ct. 1964)

[2] Syragakis v. Hopkins, 2001 Conn. Super. LEXIS 337 (Conn. Super. Ct. Feb. 6, 2001)

[3] Thorndike v. Demirs, 2007 Conn. Super. LEXIS 1944 (Conn. Super. Ct. July 26, 2007)