Take everything you paid for that you WANT and wasn't given as a gift to him.

He's going to freak out no matter what you do or don't take. So, take everything you want or can use that is your own - including any GIFTS he gave to you.

I agree with la-dulce_vida. If YOU paid for it and it was NOT a gift to him, it is rightfully yours to take.

Do not over think this. Why are you even considering what any man has to say?  This is your Declaration of Independence.  Take what you want and need to live a good life by YOUR standards.  

if you consider it yours and it was a gift to you or bought by you .. it is yours

Take everything you paid for, unless you don't want it or it was given as a gift. Just be prepared that if it is something used in the household daily, he's probably going to argue that it should've been left behind. You'll have to decide on a case by case basis if a particular item is worth the irritation of listening to him whine.

This reminds me of an gossip article I once saw when the British press was first trying to vilify Megan Markle - one of her ex husband's biggest complaints about her was that she took the blender when they divorced. Goes to show that no matter what you do, someone will be of the opinion that you should've done something differently. 

Grannyd posted on one of your previous blogs:

Submitted by grannyd on Sun, 10/29/2023 - 11:28pm

'Under Wisconsin law, an engagement ring is a conditional gift, the condition being the marriage. If you do not consummate the engagement with actually getting married, under the law, the ring must be returned. The leading case in Wisconsin is Brown v. Thomas, 127 Wis. 2d 318, 379 N.W. 2d 868 (Ct. App. 1985).'

Leave the ring in a meaningful place: on top of the toilet. 

I would not want anything that was in that home before I started to live there .  Could be the ex's stuff.  And uyou know how I feel about ex's.  Anything I bought myself, or received as gifts, I definitely would take.  And jointly bought , I would think about it as do I really need this.   You are entitled to half that type of property. And prosistion I 99% Of the law.  As will he spend thousands of $ to get back $1000 worth of junk what's selling on eBay for pennies.  
'REMEMBER  you invested your time and energy, in this relationship, you were abused by your soon to be gone SO. Your, SO let his kids abused you.  Because your SO could not would not parent his kids. He the one who made it him and kids vs you. 
i can understand the ex wanting the kids father having them live with him part of the time.  This is the case in most SF.  No one wants there kids 24/7/365.  They want to do adult things, with other adults. i 

If you paid for it and you want it, take it. He can throw a fit but  he shouldn't be able to give you grief. Block his number, kids' numbers and anyone else he could use to call you. He doesn't know where you moved. And if he finds you, get a restraining order. 

Take what you bought and brought. No guilt allowed!

Lilly, if you "bought it or bought it", you take it.

When BioHo and DH split, she took weird things like the kitchen faucet, cabinet pulls, and all of the light bulbs. She left every single picture of the skids, and her grandmother's antique vanity and kitchen mixer. When 'Ho found out I was baking every weekend, she demanded that DH return that mixer - the one she never used the entire time they were married and hadn't needed since they'd split. Guess she thought I wouldn't be able to bake and the skids would go back to being grateful for the store-bought, chemical-laden crap she would buy. I never used that mixer; always used a wooden spoon or hand mixer. But after 'Ho got her grandmother's mixer back, DH bought me a brand-spanking-new KitchenAid. *biggrin*

When I left my ex I took "my" furniture and left most of what we had purchsed together, but for a few things. Everything I brought in, stayed with me (family stuff mostly). The rest of it, if I didn't care, it stayed. I left almost all linens (yay I could get new ones!) and general bathroom things. The kitchen stuff I split as much as I could - but taking those things I used a lot since I cooked more. I took all the herb/spices which he was the most POd about hilariously because he didn't cook. I tried to be as equitable as possible since he kept the house, vehicles and all the appliances.

Praying it goes smooth & safe. Proud of you!

If you brought it, bought it, or if it was given to you as a gift.... take it. Even if he gave it to you.  

Including the ring. Take it to a jeweler, have a new piece designed and made from the metal and gems.

Once it is redisigned and you have a new piece, if he asks, tell him you no longer have the ring. Not a lie.

I am not one to play the games about the fee fees of a toxic X.  

When XW left I kept everyting that I had brought and that my family had given us. She kept the same. I had multiple cars, she had one POS hoopty.  Interestingly, after she moved out and bought a new bed, appliances, etc...., she decided she liked the bed and the appliances I had and offered to trade her brand new stuff for what I had. Nope. All I needed was a microwave. Her mom had given us a new one (stolen from her employer). I bought a LuckyGoldstar microwave for $80.  I had that for 10+ years.  I ended up giving it to a friend during one of our relocations.

My give a shit about my XW was zero after she left and our divorce was progressing to conclusion.  She kept the ring, I was fine with that.

Pathetically, she was wearing it after the Geriatric Fortune 500 Executive sugar/baby daddy married her following the birth of their second child.  A good friend of mine ran into her at a post partum  pediatrician appointment when they were both there with their new babies.  My friend asked her if that was the rign I had given her. XW said that it was and that she liked it so she did not get a new one when she married cheat daddy.  So, not only did cheat daddy get my sloppy seconds he also saw a reminder that he got sloppy seconds every time he saw my ring.

She probably still wore it with her 3rd husband after she had the cheat baby she was knocked up with when she cheated on grandpa sugar/baby daddy and he divorced her.  

I engaged in my life after XW moved out.  II went on to finish my undergrad, finishe grad school, a great career, a marriage to an amazing woman. She flunked out of grad school because I was not there to to write her papers and thesis.  She lived in the cesspool of her own creation and ruined the lives of her three fully shallow and polluted gene pool progeny 2 spawned with grandpa sugar/baby daddy and  1 from the cheat partner she cuckholded him with.Her 1st and 3rd are cheat babies she was impregnanted with by a cheat partner while cheating on a husband.She was sued along with her family by the owner of the business my XMIL embezzled $Millions from and owed several $hundred thousand of that settlement that she had to pay.  She also watched her mother get hauled off to prison.

It could not be a more Karmic and just outcome in her life.  She earned. it. Sadly, her children will suffer for it.

Enjoy living well Lilly. It is the best revenge.