Daughter was engaged to a man five years ago. Wedding date was set, church booked along with banquest facility and dress purchased. Found out a couple of months before the wedding that this man was already married in another county. Had not even filed for divorce. She kept the "engagement" ring. Has had it in her possession for the entire five years. Unfortunately, they had a son together so a relationship had to be maintained.

Last year she took the ring to a jewelry store for them to sell. Appraisal, at time of purchase, was around $8.000. A few months ago, they advised her to take it out of the setting, replace a birthstone in that original setting and have them sell the loose stone. She agreed and is wearing the setting with a new, cheaper stone in the ring.

Her ex "fiancee" has been in this store with her and is a good client of that store. He talked the jeweler into giving him the diamond without her knowledge. Daughter still has the claim check. Jeweler claims it is between her and her ex and he is just a third party caught in the middle. He says he originally sold the ring to her ex and sees nothing wrong with giving it back to him. I feel she had a contract with the jeweler when she gave him the ring/stone to sell. Do claim checks have any validity in the state of Michigan?

Have you browsed through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue yet? See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.