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In insolvency deal wedding rings are assets - Shatter

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has today, Thursday, ruled out exempting wedding rings from the assets of people seeking a personal insolvency deal.

Minister Shatter's refused to accept a proposal at committee stage of the legislation that would allow one item of jewellery of 'ceremonial significance' not be counted as an asset.

However, Mr Shatter said that would simply not work.

"One individual's €100 ring that has ceremonial significance might be another individual's €200/€300,000 'diamond bazooka', where we're talking about debt relief notices and people having debts of no more than €20,000, I can't for the life of me figure why you'd want to exempt major items of ceremonial jewellery."

Shatter told couples in July to sell their engagement rings before seeking help with their debts.

The minister believes there is no room for sentimentality when it comes to paying off bills.

 He said he was "mindful of the sentimental value as much as the actual value of items such as engagement rings" but warned they would not be exempt from being used to pay off debts because they are not essential items.