Woman Ordered To Pay Dh60,000 After Calling Off Marriage And Keeping Gifts

A woman who called off her planned marriage has been ordered by an Abu Dhabi court to pay Dh60,000 to her former suitor after failing to return cash and gold bars he had given her before the wedding.

 

The Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Claims Court issued the ruling after finding that the woman had acknowledged the debt in writing and subsequently agreed to settle the dispute for Dh60,000, but failed to make the agreed payment.

 

According to court records, the man had given the woman cash and gold after they agreed to marry. He said the items had a combined value of Dh67,827.

 

When the woman later decided not to proceed with the marriage, the man asked her to return the money and gold. She acknowledged that she owed him the amounts and items but did not repay him, prompting him to file a lawsuit.

 

In his claim, the man sought the return of all the cash and gold he had given her. He also sought Dh31,500, representing the stated value of the gold, if the bars could not be returned.

 

He supported his claim with bank-transfer records and a written acknowledgement signed by both parties.

 

Settlement

 

During the proceedings, the former couple informed the court that they had reached an agreement under which the woman would pay Dh60,000 in two instalments. They initially asked the court to formally record the agreement as an enforceable settlement.

 

However, when the case returned to court for confirmation, only the man appeared. He told the court that the woman had declined to attend and sign the final settlement agreement.

 

The court found that the woman's earlier written acknowledgement established that she owed Dh17,300 in cash and two one-ounce gold bars.

 

It held that the signed acknowledgement was legally binding and could not be disregarded unilaterally without a valid legal basis. The woman appeared before the court but did not dispute the authenticity or contents of the document. Instead, she proposed settling the entire dispute by paying Dh60,000, an offer that the man accepted.

 

As there was no evidence that she had paid the agreed amount, the court concluded that the debt remained outstanding. The court therefore ordered the woman to pay Dh60,000 to the man, in addition to court fees and legal expenses.