Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Illinois

I was recently engaged to be married. My fiance and I had reserved a reception hall for the wedding and I made 3 payments totally $2500, which according to the contract we signed was non-refundable. My fiance broke off the engagement and now I am out the $2500 that was spent. Can she be held accountable for any of that money and have to pay it back to me since it was her decision to not get married?


Asked on 5/26/11, 7:50 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Messutta

Illinois is a little "odd" on what we call gifts in contemplation of marriage. Typically the issue is the engagement ring, where if she breaks it off, she should return the ring you paid for. I would argue this is similar if in fact it was a gift from you to her of this expense. If this was a joint decision, however, and you already agreed with her to share expenses or that you would cover them, there may be an issue. So a bit more information is needed to see how this particular snafu fits into the bigger picture.

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Answered on 5/26/11, 8:59 am


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