engagement

Which translation, when

Why

Engagement maps to Verlöbnis, and the surprise runs against the usual direction: German treats the engagement as more legally loaded than the English word implies. The prevailing view calls the Verlöbnis a contract directed at marriage, yet its central rule is negative: under § 1297 BGB no application to compel the marriage can be founded on it, and any promise of a penalty for not marrying is void. What the Verlöbnis does carry are consequences on breaking it off. Under § 1298 BGB the party who withdraws without good cause owes the other the outlay made in expectation of the marriage, the Vertrauensschaden, so far as it was reasonable, and § 1299 extends this where the withdrawal was provoked by the other’s fault. Under § 1301 BGB, if the marriage does not take place, each may reclaim what was given as an engagement gift under the rules on unjust enrichment. There is even a testimony privilege for the Verlobte in court. English law went the other way: the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1970 abolished the action for breach of promise of marriage, leaving little beyond the return of the ring. So the word is safe, but a translation that treats a broken German Verlöbnis as legally weightless misses the damages and gift claims that § 1298 and § 1301 attach to it.

Typical mistakes

• The Verlöbnis is not merely social: breaking it off without good cause can found a damages claim for reasonable outlay made in expectation of the marriage, § 1298 BGB, so treating it as weightless understates the position.
• Engagement gifts can be reclaimed if the marriage does not happen, § 1301 BGB, under the rules on unjust enrichment, which an English reader assuming the ring is simply kept may miss.
• Even so, no one can be forced to marry: § 1297 BGB bars any application to compel the marriage and voids a penalty promise, so a clause purporting to enforce the engagement is ineffective.

What matters

Correspondence after a broken engagement needs the German effects kept in view, because a withdrawal without good cause can carry a claim for wasted wedding expenses, § 1298 BGB, and the return of engagement gifts, § 1301 BGB. A drafting request to make an engagement binding runs into § 1297 BGB, which bars compelling the marriage and voids any penalty for calling it off.

Examples