Is compensation possible for the unilateral breakup of a courtship in Ecuador?

Abstract

This work begins by raising the controversy over marriage as a contract and determines that, even though its obligations do not have patrimonial content, part of the doctrine and the Civil Code itself recognize it as such. From this recognition it follows that, as is common in the matter, there is a pre-contractual phase (compensable by extra-contractual means according to jurisprudential pronouncements). In marriage, these preliminary treatments are, basically, courtship.

Hence, having a negotiation phase, duties such as the protection and custody of the thing, information, confidentiality, and – the focus in this case – not abandoning negotiations without just cause are imperative. Thus, if the latter is not verified, we are faced with a case of pre-contractual liability for which the following requirements must be met: fair expectation; breakup without cause; damage; and, causal link between the first and the last.

Therefore, in a courtship that is sufficiently elaborated and, depending on the actions of the parties, can be classified as preliminary treatments for a marriage, compensation for the damages caused (whether patrimonial and/or moral) is more than possible. Even more so considering that objective good faith must be verified in each of the phases of a contract, from its negotiations to its conclusion.