Court battle waged over ownership of late judge’s pricey engagement ring

Seven months after the death of former Bexar County, Texas Court-at-Law Judge Shay Gebhardt, a court battle is being waged over who gets to keep the ring from her 2003 engagement to Hulan Yarbrough, a dentist in San Antonio. The engagement had been called off, and Gebhardt had promised in a 2003 letter to sell the ring and pay back Yarbrough. However, she and Yarbrough were living together when she died from cancer, he was paying a number of her medical bills, and there was an addendum to her will stating that she wanted the ring to be a part of her estate.

Whether or not a party gets to keep the ring in Texas depends on whether or not there was an engagement and who called it off. Yarbrough claims they just cared very deeply for one another but were not re-engaged, but Gebhardt’s lawyer says they were once again intending to get married. It will now be up to a judge to decide which side is correct, and who gets to keep the ring.

For more on this story, see Elizabeth Allen, Court battle waged over ownership of late judge’s pricey engagement ring, San Antonio Express-News (July 14, 2006).

Special thanks to Matthew Myers and Sandra Falcon for bringing this case to my attention.