PolkMoms.com

Interesting story. A lady sues ex fiancé for calling off their wedding to be. She claimed breach of contract and was awarded $150,000.

Watch this CNN clip for more background and story in this case and let me know what you think. Should the jilted lady get money for her loss? Is this a bogus court win to you?

Makes you think you may have a case if you have been proposed to then dumped. And mommas, tell your sons to mean it if they propose or they could end up in court.


http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/07/24/pn.fiancee.dumped.cnn

Cases like this are difficult to say. For one thing, it leaves everyone else who decides to marry vulnerable. Perhaps there should be compensation in certain cases, I mean obviously at times people do get jilted AND cheated. But the precedent set by the wrong sort of ruling, or even the right sort, could have far reaching effects.


And a note ~ I have not yet been able to read the more pertinent details on this case just yet.

Wow!!! Can I sue my ex-boyfriend for emotional distress?? Can I get punative damages for the hurt my kids suffered?? He totally shattered our world.
In all seriousness though I wouldn't do that. I understand why he did what he did; doesn't make him a bad guy just because he wasn't ready for what we had.

ok i watched the video. i agree she should have been compensated something. before i watched the video i thought she should only get the money back she spent on the wedding. after watching i found out she moved across state lines and quit a really good job for this man. why she would ever give up an $80,000. job i will never know. unless his was a lot better. he should have moved close to her. i do think she should have gotten something.

John Jay Osborn Jr., a Harvard-trained lawyer who wrote "The Paper Chase," (a novel about life at Harvard Law School), explains that there are only four principles that form the basis of all contract law:

1. The extent to which a court should honor the parties' expectations
2. Reliance on people to honor their word.
3. Restitution
4. Specific performance.

Suing over a broken engagement is totally in line. Promises were made, which led to commitments. This woman gave up her career and her home, and spent a fortune preparing a wedding, all in the expectation that her finace would keep his word and marry her. For him to break his promise creates not only hard feelings, but ill-spent debt that can and should be repaid. Restitution would apply if the would-be groom enriched himself at his fiancee's expense.
The principle of specific performance is interesting. Sometimes a court can decide that there can be no satisfaction, same to honor the original terms of the contract.
Has a court ever forced anyone to get married?

quote:

Originally posted by n_common1:

Has a court ever forced anyone to get married?

This quote made me think of the days of the "shot gun" weddings. Sometimes I wonder if they really knew what they were doing? I guarantee you if this happened back in the day, this man would be getting married. LOL

Interesting info n~common.

Nothing against shotgun weddings, but... let me relay my story, lol.

I can slough it off now, although the intimation hurt more back then, but I was slammed early on and told by someone outside of the equation, that my husband only married me because I was prego. It wasn't true. My daughter was born 8 months & half a week after we married. (My other two kids were born 3 1/2 weeks early too, exactly the same as her, the only commonality all 3 shared.)

But pregnancy wouldn't have made any difference marriage~wise for either me or my hubba. If I hadn't loved him, no go, I wouldn't have married him, nor would I have done any~Ting else, lol Same holds true for my hubba. Although I know he's the type of man who would support any child of his.

Anyway, what was implied about our wedding was so far from the truth, not that we owe explanations. But notably, I don't think the courts should ever force the issue of marriage. How in the world could that lead to happiness? Resentment would be the more likely result.

I could see court ordered retribution for lost money if a person promises to marry and the partner loses out. But forced marriage, seems to me that would just be a bad recipe for more disasters and divorces. And it's not like marriage isn't tough enough for people in this day, age, and economy.

My husband and I got engaged while I was in college. I tried to plan an out-of-state wedding while finishing my coursework and completing a full-time internship. At the time my husband (fiance) was already in an established job so I prepared to leave everything I had known (family, friends, jobs, etc) to move to where he was.

After a few months the stress and resentment began to build and I called off the wedding/engagement. I graduated, got a job and moved to a new town (still away from family, but closer). In the end hubby ending up getting transferred to a job nearby (completely coincedental) and we got back together, eloped and are still happily married today. That being said, if I hadn't called it off when I did we both truly believe that we would be divorced by now.

What worries me about this court decision is that it may make people who really shouldn't be getting married go ahead with it anyway because they don't want to be sued for admitting they made a mistake in accepting the proposal (in general or at that specific time). And like guitarjee said, to me "forced" marriages are asking for more bad endings and divorces.

As far as this woman leaving an $80,000 a year job to be with him...it may sound harsh, but she is a big girl and that was a decision that she made. Just my opinion.

littleT, I am so happy to read of your situation, not your struggles, but your outcome and the joy I can feel from how happy you both are! Isn't it remarkable, when it's right, nothing matters and it's only time.

I agree that adults make decisions and I am not for anything "forced" marriage included. Think about how much it would have cost the system had he gone through with it only to have it end in divorce anyway? One of the lawyers talks about it being typical "contractual law" in that there is this for that, but it's not a business, is it?

My husband and I discussed this and think that the financials accrued in the whole event should be about 60/40 in her favor, since he called it off. But in no way should either foot the entire thing.

For a court of law to say he pays, just sets the precedent that one can't change one's mind.