Family Law · Study Hub
Study Hub
Flashcards, a lexicon, and FIRAC exam problems — coach yourself to a distinction.
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What is an engagement in law?
A contract between two persons to marry each other, subject to the ordinary contractual requirements (capacity, consensus, lawfulness). It is never specifically enforceable.
Can a court order specific performance of an engagement?
No. A court will never compel a party to marry. The only issues are lawful termination and damages.
Name the ways an engagement may end.
Marriage; mutual agreement; death; justified termination for a sound reason; or unjustified repudiation (breach).
What did Van Jaarsveld v Bridges decide about breach of promise?
The SCA curtailed the action: no sentimental (delictual) damages and no prospective-loss damages — only actual, proven patrimonial loss (e.g. wasted expenses) is recoverable.
What may a jilted party recover today?
Actual, reasonable expenses incurred in preparing for the wedding (a contractual claim for negative/reliance interest). Not prospective benefits, not damages for hurt feelings (unless there is contumelia).
What is justa causa in the context of an engagement?
A valid legal reason to withdraw unilaterally from an engagement without being in breach — e.g. the partner's infidelity, discovery of permanent impotence, a serious crime, severe mental illness, or a material mistake about the person's identity. A party with justa causa incurs no liability.
What is a spatium deliberandi?
"Space to deliberate." Van Jaarsveld v Bridges recognised that an engagement is a period during which either party must remain free to reconsider without facing financial ruin — the foundation for abolishing prospective-loss claims.
What is contumelia, and why does it matter for a broken engagement?
A serious, deliberate insult to the dignity of the jilted party in the manner of the break-up. It is the threshold for the actio iniuriarum (delictual claim for sentimental damages); the break-up itself — even by SMS — does not constitute contumelia.
Distinguish arrhae sponsalitiae from sponsalitia largitas.
Arrhae sponsalitiae are gifts given as an earnest to confirm the engagement (e.g. the ring); sponsalitia largitas are ordinary gifts made in contemplation of the marriage.
Who keeps the ring if the wedding is called off?
Engagement gifts are conditional on the marriage. If it does not follow they are returnable; the party who unjustifiably breaks the engagement may forfeit the ring they gave and must return gifts received.
Does an engagement create a duty of support?
No. The parties remain legally single with no reciprocal duty of support or matrimonial property consequences until the marriage is concluded.