## Facts

- Ethan L. Dockendorf proposed to Julia V. McGrath in August 2012 and gave her a two-carat engagement ring valued at about $26,000.
- The relationship deteriorated, and Dockendorf ended the engagement in September 2013; the parties never married.
- Dockendorf demanded return of the ring and filed an action in detinue seeking recovery of the ring (or its value).
- McGrath argued the claim was barred by Virginia’s “heart balm” statute, Code § 8.01-220, which abolishes specified causes of action associated with broken engagements.

## Issues

1. Whether Code § 8.01-220 bars an action in detinue to recover an engagement ring after an engagement is broken off and no marriage occurs.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed the circuit court.
- The court held Code § 8.01-220 does not bar a detinue action seeking return of an engagement ring treated as a conditional gift in contemplation of marriage.
- The circuit court’s remedy remained in place: McGrath was ordered to return the ring or pay its value (about $26,000).

## Legal Principles

- Code § 8.01-220 abolishes certain “heart balm” causes of action (including breach of promise to marry) but does not, by its terms, abolish property-based actions to recover specific chattels.
- Detinue is a property-focused remedy seeking return of specific personal property (or its value), not damages for emotional or relational harms stemming from a broken engagement.
- An engagement ring may be treated at common law as a conditional gift made in contemplation of marriage; if the condition (marriage) does not occur, the donor may seek recovery.
- Statutes are construed against the background of existing common law; absent clear language, the legislature is not presumed to have eliminated common-law property remedies such as recovery of conditional gifts.
- Interpretations in other jurisdictions supported reading heart balm statutes as barring tort-like relational claims while permitting recovery of engagement rings as conditional gifts.

## Conclusion

The Supreme Court of Virginia held that Virginia’s heart balm statute bars certain relational tort actions arising from broken engagements but does not prevent a detinue claim to recover an engagement ring given as a conditional gift when the marriage never occurs.


McGrath v. Dockendorf, 292 Va. 834, 793 S.E.2d 336 (Va. 2016)