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What is a Breach of Promise?
Malcolm Tatum
Malcolm Tatum
A breach of promise is a formerly common tort law that makes it possible for an individual to be sued in the event that he or she consented to an engagement of marriage, then later chose to withdraw from the engagement. While once a common legal action in many countries around the world, many regard any laws of this type as obsolete, and a relic from a bygone era. Still, there are jurisdictions that recognize the dissolution of an engagement to be grounds for the pursuit of legal action, if the injured party desires.
Typically, a breach of promise lawsuit will seek some type of compensation from the party who chose to withdraw from the engagement. The underlying concept is that the injured party is entitled to damages, since he or she presumably began to rearrange personal affairs in preparation for the impending marriage. Jurisdictions that do still recognize a breach of promise as a valid reason for legal action usually provide specific guidelines for determining if damages are indeed merited, as well as the amount of damages that the injured party should receive.
While the idea of a breach of promise was once very common, many people today prefer to simply end the connection and move on with their lives. In some parts of the United States, there are statutes that specifically prohibit residents from attempting to bring these types of suits against former romantic partners, even when it is well established that an engagement took place. Other states simply have no provisions that apply to such a case, making it very difficult to bring this type of suit to court.
In other countries around the world, the idea of a breach of promise is still very much a part of the legal options that can take place when a promised marriage does not take place. This is especially true in countries where marriages are arranged as part of the cultural norm. When one or both of the parties in the engagement have significant financial resources, and the marriage was intended to combine those resources as a way of increasing the net worth of both parties, a breach of promise is more likely to be considered a grave offense, both socially and legally. Since the injured party can sometimes demonstrate a loss of wealth or resources as a direct result of the broken engagement, there is at least some possibility that the court of jurisdiction will determine that damages are appropriate, and render some sort of award to the injured party.
Malcolm Tatum
After many years in the teleconferencing industry, Michael decided to embrace his passion for trivia, research, and writing by becoming a full-time freelance writer. Since then, he has contributed articles to a variety of print and online publications, including WiseGEEK, and his work has also appeared in poetry collections, devotional anthologies, and several newspapers. Malcolm’s other interests include collecting vinyl records, minor league baseball, and cycling.
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Malcolm Tatum
After many years in the teleconferencing industry, Michael decided to embrace his passion for trivia, research, and writing by becoming a full-time freelance writer. Since then, he has contributed articles to a variety of print and online publications, including WiseGEEK, and his work has also appeared in poetry collections, devotional anthologies, and several newspapers. Malcolm’s other interests include collecting vinyl records, minor league baseball, and cycling.
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![Typically, a breach of promise lawsuit will seek some type of compensation from the party who chose to withdraw from the engagement.]()
By: Andy DeanTypically, a breach of promise lawsuit will seek some type of compensation from the party who chose to withdraw from the engagement. -
![A breach of promise might involve sharing information about former romantic partners that was intended to be confidential.]()
By: Andrey KiselevA breach of promise might involve sharing information about former romantic partners that was intended to be confidential.
Discussion Comments
@Bhutan - I heard about that case and it was sad and it is not uncommon. I think that there should be some financial penalty that the party breaking the agreement has to pay because when you wait until the wedding day to decide that you do not want to get married the money has already been spent and it is not fair to the other party.
I know that a lot of breach of contract disputes occur in Hollywood. There have been many cases in which there was a breach of employment contract regarding an actor that agreed to appear in a film and later changed their mind and was sued.
Kim Basinger was sued for a breach of contract and actually filed for bankruptcy because the amount that she was sued for was huge. It is only fair because there is a lot of planning that goes into these movies and what do you do if the star decides that they do not want to participate in the film?
I recently heard about a case the other day on television about a bride that was stood up at the altar. She sued the groom for breach of promise of marriage because the costs associated with the wedding were over $60,000.
I think that when you have wedding expenses that are that high the other party that committed the breach of promise to marry should pay the entire amount of the expenses or at least should reimburse the bride for the amount that she contributed.
I realize that it is better that she found out that he did not want to marry her now than going through with the marriage and ending up divorced but the groom should have informed the bride in the earlier stages of the planning so that neither side would have had too much financially vested.
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