Breach of engagement
Very often it happens that one party commits a breach of promise by breaking off an engagement. In such a case the innocent party is entitled to be awarded damages in certain circumstances and be places in a position in which he/she would have been placed if the marriage had been concluded.
The following bring about a termination of an engagement:
-
Marriage itself;
-
The death of either of the engaged persons;
-
Mutual agreement to terminate the engagement;
-
The withdrawal of parental consent where one of the parties is a minor;
-
A unilateral and justified termination, based on sound reasons. ¹
If it is a joint decision to end the engagement all gifts such as the engagement ring must be returned by both parties.
A leading court case which deals with breach of engagement is Guggenheim v Rosenbaum 1961 4SA 21(W). In this case the Defendant was engaged to the Plaintiff and later denied all knowledge of its existence. The Plaintiff was awarded an amount of R500 as satisfaction. The court recognised that the woman was an adult woman and although she had been humiliated she had a great deal of experience.
In a case of breach of engagement a man can recover expenses made in connection with either wedding or honeymoon arrangements, and a woman can also do so if she can prove a financial loss due to loss of employment or change of residence.
¹ The South African Law of Persons and Family Law (Third Edition) DSP Cronjé published by Butterworths
Written by Peter M Baker, a divorce attorney in Cape Town.