Lawyer Ernestina Obboh Botchwey has explained that ‘jilted and broken-hearted’ ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends can sue their former partners if they had promised to marry them.

She said once an individual proposes marriage and the other party accepts, there is a contract has been established under the law.

However, failure to carry out the said promise constitutes a breach of contract.

Ms. Botchwey noted that aggrieved partners can sue for damages or special damages and get compensation from their partners for the harm done to them by their ex-girlfriends or ex-boyfriends.

“In the law, we see that the promise to marry is just like a contract. If someone says I will marry you and you also say I will, then that’s a contract. It’s an agreement and somebody has also accepted and agreed to marry you. So those two exchanges of promises translate into a contract. So if someone says I will marry you and then they say I will no longer marry you. The contract has been breached and that is why we say breach of contract to marry," she stated.

She however stressed that one has to show proof in court that their ex actually promised to marry them and that the one sued( the defendant) can give a reasonable excuse why they failed to marry the partner they had promised to marry.

He added that the court will not force the person who made the promise to marry the other to carry out the marriage, but will ask them to pay compensation to the disappointed ex-partner.