Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

I'm not aware of any case law on this in Texas except as it relates to engagement rings (answer to "who gets the ring" - it depends). So I would have to say probably not. I hope some of my fellow attorneys out there can chime in on this.

The person that signes any contracts would be the person liable. So if you signed a written contract with say a caterer they will look to you for payment. Call them and try to get as much money back as possible. These things happen and most people that deal with weddings understand that engagements get cancelled.

You can sue in small claims court for any deposits that you were not able to recover. You would have to mitigate all damages. Mitigate means that you have to try to lessen the money that is owed.

If the woman cancelled the engagement or caused the engagement to be broken, then I doubt the judge would order the man to pay any of the money back. For example, if woman had an affair, lied or misrepresented anything, then the man had a valid reason not to move forward with the marriage. Therefore, you might be wasting your time litigating this matter. An engagement is a promise to marry - that's all. Is the marriage is a potential "fraud" then he has reason to cancel the "promise".

I suggest that you talk to your daughter honestly about why the engagement was broken. You might not like what you hear -- you don't want this matter to move forward and to escalate the matter and incur additional expenses if you are going to lose. Plus, the man is going to call witnesses to the stand to testify about your daughter & her reputation. I don't know if you want to hear this. It is a public place & the entire neighborhood can show up and hear bad things said about your daughter. This trial can get very messy very quickly! Plus, the judge really don't want to hear all this "dirt".

Quite frankly, this matter is never litigated in the courts. It's just not worth hiring an attorney for these type of cases usually because the money involved is just not that great to make litigation worthwhile.

I can't tell where you live in Texas. It's probably a small claim case. You will probably be sent to mediation in many small claims courts. This is a slow process.

Even if you win and get a judgement -- good luck collecting the money if the man has no assets that are not exempt in the State of Texas. You might win a piece of paper -- but not ever "collect" the money owed if he still refuses to pay you. You cannot attach his salary and many of his assets - they are exempt in Texas.

I hope this helps and does not totally confuse you.