BOSTON — Who gets to keep an engagement ring if a romance turns sour and the wedding is called off?

That’s what Massachusetts’ highest court was asked to decide, with a $70,000 ring at the center of the dispute.

Finally, the court ruled Friday that an engagement ring must be returned to the person who purchased it, ending a six-decade-old state rule that required judges to try to identify who was to blame for the end of the relationship.

The case involved Bruce Johnson and Caroline Settino, who began dating in the summer of 2016, according to court records. Over the next year, they traveled together, visiting New York, Bar Harbor, Maine, the Virgin Islands, and Italy. Johnson paid for the vacations and also gave Settino jewelry, clothing, shoes and handbags.

Johnson eventually bought a $70,000 diamond engagement ring and in August 2017 asked Settino’s father for permission to marry her. Two months later, he also bought two wedding rings for about $3,700.

Johnson said he felt that after that, Settino became increasingly critical and unsupportive, including berating him and not accompanying him to treatments when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to court records.

At one point, Johnson looked at Settino’s cell phone and discovered a text from her to a man she didn’t know.

“My Bruce will be in Connecticut for three days. I need some playtime,” the message read. He also found messages from the man, including a voicemail in which the man referred to Settino as “cupcake” and said they didn’t see each other enough. Settino said the man was just a friend.

Johnson ended the engagement. But ownership of the ring remained up in the air.

A trial judge initially concluded that Settino was entitled to keep the engagement ring, reasoning that Johnson “mistakenly believed that Settino was cheating on him and called off the engagement.” An appeals court ruled that Johnson should receive the ring.

In September, the case went before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which ultimately ruled that Johnson should keep the ring.

In their ruling, the justices said the case raised the question of whether the issue of “who is at fault” should continue to govern rights to engagement rings when the wedding does not take place.

More than six decades ago, the court found that an engagement ring is generally understood to be a conditional gift and ruled that the giver can get it back after a failed engagement, but only if that person was “without fault”.

“We now join the modern trend adopted by the majority of jurisdictions that have considered the issue and withdraw the concept of fault in this context,” the justices wrote in Friday’s decision. “Where, as here, the planned wedding does not take place and the engagement ends, the engagement ring must be returned to the donor regardless of fault.”

Johnson’s attorney, Stephanie Taverna Siden, welcomed the decision.

“We are very pleased with the court’s decision today. It is a well-reasoned, fair and just decision and moves Massachusetts law in the right direction,” Siden said.

An attorney for Settino did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.