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Albinger v. Harris6/6/2002
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CONCLUSION
We reverse the District Court's conclusion of law and hold the engagement ring to be a gift given without implied or express condition. Montana gift law makes no provision for conditional gifting, except in the context of a gift in contemplation of death. We refrain from adopting permutations in the legal theory of gifting that have no legislated authority and serve to exacerbate gender bias. We affirm the court's denial of reimbursement for telephone charges and the monetary award for Harris' emotional distress, pain and suffering resulting from the assault and battery of February 23, 1997.
Reversed in part; affirmed in part; and remanded for entry of judgment consistent with this opinion.
We Concur:
KARLA M. GRAY
JIM REGNIER
W. WILLIAM LEAPHART
Justice Terry N. Trieweiler concurring and dissenting.
Gender discrimination is a bad thing. I am glad the majority is against it. However, I regret that the majority has taken this opportunity to declare their good intentions because gender equity has about as much to do with this case as banking law. Furthermore, the parties in the District Court will be as surprised to hear about the basis on which this appeal has been resolved as I was when I read the proposed opinion. Principles of gender equity were never argued or even raised by the parties at any stage in the proceeding and the District Court had no opportunity to consider the relevance (or irrelevance) of Constitutional theory to any of the simple issues which were presented in the District Court.
The precedent established by this case leads to all sorts of interesting possibilities. If we accept the majority's assumption that women are more likely to have to give back a conditional gift given in anticipation of marriage than men and that, therefore, traditional notions of gift law are no longer applicable because it is unfair, what should we do about maintenance? After all, don't men more often pay maintenance than women? Is that fair? What should we do about child support? Couldn't there be a statistical argument that men pay more child support than women? What should we do about paternity suits? Surely men are more frequently the defendants in paternity suits than women?
The simple fact is that if women are more likely to be the subject of an action to recover a conditional gift given in anticipation of a marriage which does not occur, it is because they are more frequently the recipient of the gift. Should we just prohibit gifts in anticipation of marriage altogether because men are more likely to have to pay for them? The possible implications of the majority's decision are just beyond my comprehension.
Before today, no court anywhere in the world has ever held that a conditional gift given in anticipation of marriage cannot be recovered if the condition on which it was given, the marriage, does not occur because to require its return would violate notions of gender fairness. Nowhere at any time. It is no wonder the parties did not think of it. Before embarking on this radical, unprecedented departure from traditional notions of contract and gift law, shouldn't we have at least asked the parties for their views? Shouldn't we at least have some record for the unfounded assumption that one gender is more likely to be affected than the other?
This is a simple case involving the law of conditional gifts, decided by the District Court based on findings which are fully supported by the evidence and law as it has been applied throughout the country. The District Court opinion is well reasoned and fair. It should be affirmed
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