In a landmark ruling, the Court of Appeals ended a longstanding debate on the ownership of jewelry gifted to couples on their wedding day.
In Turkey, it is a nationwide custom to bestow couples with golden jewelry at their wedding party to help them cover their expenses for the party and as a future savings. When a man in the process of a divorce moved to pay his outstanding debts dating back to his pre-marriage days, his wife took the matter to court.
The unidentified wife asked the local court to order her husband to return all the gold jewelry bestowed to the couple but the court ruled only for the return of the jewelry bestowed to the wife. She then took the case to the Court of Appeals.
The Third Chamber of the appeals court said in a verdict that the woman is the sole beneficiary of the jewelry gifted at the wedding, regardless of whom the guests gave the gifts to. The verdict said the jewelry should be treated as the woman's personal property, dismissing an expert witness report that says the jewelry should be property shared between the woman and the man.
