ATTA GIRL!!

Ok, so I was already feeling a little giddy this week with the win of Maria Sharapova in the US Open who eerily resembles my six year old, who is also a tennis player, and who was also born in Russia. Now when I am feeling as my mother says in my "I am Woman" mode I read about a 29 year old who discovered before her wedding about the cheating ways of her husband to be. Instead of continuing with the nuptials this young lady turned the wedding, which of course was non-refundable, into a charity event. I have no idea where Vergennes Vermont is, but there is one heck of a party going on there!
Unlike so many of my clients who would have (and have done so) chosen to continue with the wedding out of embarrassment this woman invited 125 of her closest female friends for drinks and a gourmet four course dinner. In exchange, she and her mother are hoping the guests make donations to the charities they are hosting.
This is the type of thing which makes me proud to be a woman. We as women have the capacity to turn a negative into a positive and splash it about in a big way. Instead of turning into a statistic this brave woman became headline news.
May I take this opportunity to teach to the masses a valuable lesson here? If your soon to be partner cheats on you before the wedding...Chances are pretty good they will continue with that course of conduct and you should see this as a red flag.
Now some may ask the question, does she get to keep the ring? Technically, No. However, if the ring was given for an occasion other than the engagement such as on Christmas or her birthday, it could very well be interpreted that the ring was not given in contemplation of marriage but instead as a gift on an occasion. In this case,however, where the bride and her family expended nonrefundable out of pocket expenses, it would seem to me that the ring should be used to offset and reduce part of his obligation to split the expenses. Chances are the bride or her mother will not seek reimbursement in which case the ring rightly belongs to her.
By the way I never seek the return of the ring, during a divorce proceeding. Frankly I think it is just bad form to ask for a woman's engagement ring, and there are usually enough other marital assets to divvy up. I believe there should be some things off limits. Enough law for one day...
For today..after my manicure and pedicure, I am basking in my womanhood.....