Property

In general, the law regarding gifts is that a gift becomes the property of the recipient once it is given to him/her. If the relationship ends, the gift doesn’t automatically become a loan that has to be returned or paid back. One exception to the general rule that gifts don’t have to be returned is when someone gives a “gift in contemplation of marriage” – usually an engagement ring. (Generally, an engagement ring has to be returned if the engagement ends.) It may also be possible that another type of gift that is in contemplation of an event that never happens may have to be returned. For example, if two people are going to move in together, and one person buys a bed for them to share as a couple, and then they break up the next day, it could be reasonable for the person to demand the bed back because the event (moving in together) never happened.

However, just because the law may not require a person to give back a gift, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the gift giver won’t go to court to try to get the gift back (by claiming it was a loan or stolen). If the giver of the gift goes to court to sue the recipient for the value of the item or for the return of the item, both parties would present their evidence and then it would be up to the judge to decide who wins. It could be possible that if the gift giver is determined to get the item back, s/he may even go to the police and claim that the recipient of the gift stole it. These are all reasons why the gift recipient may decide to give back the gift anyway (even if it is not required by law) just to get the gift giver off of their back. Especially in a case where the gift giver is abusive or is harassing the recipient over the gift, it may be in the person’s best interest to return the give (via mail or through a third person) to see if that stops the harassing contact. It is of course up to you to decide how to handle your situation in this regard.