Jilted Bride Awarded $150K After Wedding Called Off

POSTED: 12:53 pm EDT July 23, 2008
UPDATED: 4:42 pm EDT July 23, 2008


HALL COUNTY, Ga. -- The jury has awarded a Hall County woman $150,000 after she sued her former fiance for calling their wedding off.

RoseMary Shell sued her ex-fiance, Wayne Gibbs, after he broke off their engagement in 2007.

Shell argued her fiance's promise of marital bliss amounted to a binding contract. She said she left a high-paying job in Florida to be with Gibbs and she said she has suffered financial losses since their break-up. She also said she has suffered emotionally.

SURVEY: Do You Agree With Judgment?


Gibbs testified that he had taken Shell on trips and paid $30,000 of her debt while they were engaged. He said when he found out she had even more debt, he canceled the wedding by leaving Shell a note in their bathroom.

Closing arguments were heard Wednesday morning and the jury awarded Shell $150,000 by Wednesday afternoon.

Please refresh this developing story for updates.

Read my signature.

The evidence against marriage just keeps mounting...

Fuck that.

No way it will hold up on appeal. It sets a dangerous precedent.

Of course I could modify that opinion if any actual evidence was given in the story.

violator said:

Mars23 said:

What evidence do you need?

Stymie said:

If there is a true "meeting of the minds" on what their engagement entailed, then there is a verbal contract. It needs to be proven what each party understood the proposal to mean. Was is a guarantee of marriage? Were there any monetary factors brought up?

I think it is a case of "bitch is crazy" but I would like to read the testimony.

The real lesson here: Look at a muthafucka's credit reports before you EVEN discuss marriage. Case closed.

Mars23 said:

Yeah, without assuming anything more than what's presented in the story it sounds absolutely kooky. But there'd almost have to be. Wouldn't there...?

SCNDLS said:

Isn't that akin to asking for a pre-nup?

violator said:

The keys seems 2 be that she QUIT a high paying job.

violator said:

Uh, no. If you can't honestly discuss your individual financial situations (income, debts, financial responsibilities, savings, etc.) WHY would you get married??? Oh, and what's wrong with a prenup??? Best believe I'm having one if I ever get married.
[Edited 7/23/08 14:13pm]

Graycap23 said:

Oaky. If I leave here to go be with someone else and it doesn't work out, i should be able to sue?

SCNDLS said:

Exactly. Read my signature.

Graycap23 said:

But he apparently cancelled because she had MORE debt than he was aware of which woulda been avoided by just looking at her credit report.

Graycap23 said:

By choice. The story suggests that his promise to make her a happy bride constitutes a "binding contract". What guy looking to get married doesn't promise that?

violator said:

Exactly.

SCNDLS said:

There's nothing wrong with it at all. I'm in agreement with you, but you are in the minority of women (ones I know, anyway) in that respect.

violator said:

I got shit to lose so I believe in protecting my assets from a failed marriage. But more importantly, a prenup can also protect a person from being responsible for debt obtained by a spouse during a marriage.
[Edited 7/23/08 14:19pm]

Graycap23 said:

:cough:golddigger:cough:

violator said:

I'm all for pre-nups, too.

SCNDLS said:

That's why I compared the prenup to the idea of getting a credit report. Both go a long way towards protecting your financial interests. But one is generally presented as smart planning while the other (mostly associated with men) is suggested to be insensitive and 'planning for the divorce'.

Maybe the general attitudes of women towards this are changing...



Nah, it's just you and Stymie.
[Edited 7/23/08 14:24pm]

violator said:

If I ever marry, it'd be for love, not because someone could take care of me. I'd sign a pre-nup in a heartbeat.

Stymie said:

Look at the results of the case. Otherwise it does NOT make any sense at all.

violator said:

The real purspose of the reviewing the credit report is to have an open discussion of each person's personal finances and to plan for joining your personal AND financial lives. Anybody that does not do this in THIS day and age is

As for the prenup, I think in years past men were the primary earners so of course the prenup was viewed as disadvantageous to women. But I don't think either person is entitled to assets accrued before marriage. However, today, it's more common for women to earn as much if not more than their partners. Therefore, we've got skin in the game now. Most of my married girlfriends make much more than their husbands and owned homes before they got married. If they don't have a prenup and get divorced hubby is entitled to half of the house. As it is, legally, he's still entitled to half the value during the years of marriage. More importantly protection from his debt is a bigger benefit of a prenup IMO .

SCNDLS said:

I am so on point with this. Do a credit and background check to know what you are getting into for real.

rachel3 said:

Definitely do a background check cuz you never know who's running game and has a criminal record or warrants. My roommate works in law enforcement so when I start dating a guy best believe we run a check on that mofo.

SCNDLS said:

Dizzam.

I'd be too scared to quit my "high paying job" for a mf This is a mess...

Well let's start a relationship on lies and deceit and wonder why shit doesn't work out.

Is there a pill for stupid?