well me and my fiance split up last friday after 2 years of (mostly) happiness. and the topic of custody of our green 2003 mini is going on, she feels like the car is hers but im not sure i should just give her a car i paid for completely. i bought the car for her in october last year as a late 18th birthday present and told her the car is hers, but i honestly didnt see us splitting up, we were planning a wedding at the time. i paid all the payments and the insurance and 2 weeks ago i sold my beloved cobalt to pay off her mini. last week she left me, and now she wants to know if she gets to keep the car. i did tell her it was hers and always will be, that i would never take it from her. but i feel like signing the car over to her would be throwing away alot of money that i invested into that car. but at the same time i love her and dont want to hurt her. i know she loves that mini more than anything. what would you do?
If it were a true gift, you should've put the title & registration in her name when you bought it...or at least when you paid it off.
What did she contribute financially? My guess is NOTHING.
If you had already been married, that's one thing, but you were merely engaged, so she's NOT entitled to the MINI, nor is she entitled to have you sell it to split the proceeds.
Since she ended the engagement, she should also return to you the engagement ring you gave her since she cannot legally keep it...if you were to pursue her in civil court for the return of the ring.
People don't "suddenly leave" a ***committed*** relationship, so something must've been going on behind the scenes for quite awhile.
Do you currently have possession of the MINI and both keyfobs? If not, it's important that you get the MINI (or the missing keyfob) back into your possession as quickly as possible. The police will help you with this if necessary.
If she has the MINI and/or a keyfob, the LAST thing you want is for her to be driving it around and get into an accident. She is no longer living at your residence and should be removed from the insurance as an authorized driver ASAP.
She won't be able to afford the insurance on the MINI if she's 18 years old (based on your comment of a late 18th birthday present). She ended the engagement and left you...for whatever reason (which you don't need to share here)...and now she needs to deal with it.
She's not entitled to any "severance package" or "parting gifts", so she needs to grow up FAST and deal with things. Just be glad that she hadn't tricked you into putting the title & registration into her name.
Emotions are valuable, but don't let her manipulate you.
Where were HER emotions about you when she decided to suddenly leave? If she didn't even give you ANY warning (conversations about problems...conversations about ending the relationship...etc) she CERTAINLY didn't have ANY consideration for YOUR FEELINGS.
Keep that in mind while you sort through this difficult & painful time. Don't let emotions rule your decisions.
I don't know her or you personally, but I have known girls who did EXACTLY what she's done...banking on the guy GIVING the car to them in hopes of getting the girl back. It didn't work and the girls just joked about it for a long time afterwards.
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