RESPONSABILIDAD POR RUPTURA DE PROMESA DE MATRIMONIO: ACCIÓN DE RESARCIMIENTO DE GASTOS Y OBLIGACIONES POR EL INCUMPLIMIENTO SIN CAUSA DE LOS ESPONSALES.

Abstract

As currently worded, article 43 of the Spanish Civil Code warns, «Breach of a valid promise of marriage, without cause, by a person who is of legal age or by an emancipated minor will only produce the obligation to compensate the other party for expenditures made and obligations contracted in consideration of the promised marriage. The right to claim such compensation will expire in one year counting from the day of the refusal to marry». In short, the injured party can sue but may expect to win only if seeking compensation for two very specific items, expenditures made and obligations contracted in consideration of the promised marriage, and only when the other party has called off the promised marriage without giving any cause. The cause of the breach of promise is a vital point: The offending party's decision not to marry must alone lie at the root of the breach of promise. No longer must the required cause be (as described of old) «just.» Therefore, if there is some cause for the breach of promise, and if that cause has been given, any suit seeking to enforce the promise of marriage will be inadmissible and immediately thrown out. On the other hand, the cause, motive or reason for the promise's having been broken and the consistency or insubstantiality of the cause, motive or reason will be examined on a case-by case basis. This paper reviews some of the numerous decisions given in recent times by Spanish provincial appellate courts. More often than one might expect, these decisions are useful for contrasting and clarifying what items are deserving of compensation and what other factors are particularly relevant in the still-thriving institution of marriage.