Discussion Question : Marriage Agreements and Promises
There are many types of agreements that people who are contemplating marriage, are simply living together, or are already married can enter into. Here, you will be examining a few agreements. Next, are there rights that flow from things like a "promise to marry" that can be enforced?
Joe and Sandy are contemplating living together before they get married. A friend of Joe's suggests that Joe should have a cohabitation agreement. You are a paralegal with a law firm. Joe comes to your firm for advice. In your opinion, should they have a cohabitation agreement or a premarital agreement? Discuss the merits of both.
Sandy has made reservations for the church and the room for the reception, ordered the wedding cake and flowers, and picked out and paid for her wedding dress. Three weeks before the wedding date, Joe calls off the wedding. He says he is no longer in love with Sandy and has met someone else. Can Sandy sue Joe for breach of promise to marry her? Can she sue the other woman for alienation of affections?
Justify your ideas and responses by using appropriate examples and references from Westlaw (including primary sources such as cases, statutes, rules, regulations, etc.), government websites, peer-reviewed legal periodicals (not lawyer blogs), which can be supplemented by law dictionaries or the textbook. This means you need to use more than just your text and legal dictionaries.