Georgia recognizes a fraud claim against a person who lies about being free to marry, and no wedding has to have taken place for it to work.
What the Claim Requires
The Court of Appeals stated the test plainly in Finch v. Dasgupta, 251 Ga. App. 637 (2001). The claim exists “not . . . for all jilted lovers, but only for those who reasonably rely to their detriment upon misrepresentations by another about their marital status and about their intent to marry.”
So there are two lies, not one: about being free to marry, and about intending to. Detrimental reliance ties them to a loss.
Where the Claim Came From
In Perthus v. Paul, 81 Ga. App. 133 (1950), a woman wrote to a man living in Boston, telling him she had divorced her husband and urging him to come to Lamar County so they could marry. He gave up a job paying $3,848 a year, moved to Georgia, lived at her house and worked on her property while she postponed the wedding for six months. She had never been divorced.
The Court of Appeals held he had stated a case for fraud and deceit. Because the claim sounded in tort rather than contract, it did not matter whether the promise to marry was itself enforceable.
When It Fails
Two situations. In Finch, both parties were single and the defendant never promised marriage, so there was no misrepresentation of status to rely on and the claim failed.
The other is knowledge. In Thorpe v. Collins, 245 Ga. 77 (1980), a woman sued a man who had promised for three years to marry her once he divorced his wife. Because she learned he was married within minutes of meeting him, the Supreme Court of Georgia held she had “no claim in fraud and deceit cognizable by the courts under the public policy of this state.”
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!