$________ AWARD Contract – Equity – Action to recoup funds provided to defendant to purchase marital home during engagement.

Okaloosa County, FL

The plaintiff in this action sought equitable relief based on an alleged oral agreement from the defendant that she intended to marry him. The plaintiff alleged that he wired $________ to the defendant for the purchase of a marital home with instructions to have his name included in the deed. The plaintiff sought to recoup the funds he provided for the home after the defendant married another man. The defendant disputed the timing of the engagement and claimed that the defendant purchased the house for her as a gift.

The plaintiff testified that he met the decedent in the late 1980s while he was purchasing registered German shepherds from the defendant’s kennel. The defendant was married to another man at the time, but the plaintiff claimed that she promised to obtain a divorce and marry him. The plaintiff contended that his relationship with the defendant continued through telephone calls and letters and that the defendant indicated that they were engaged to be married. The defendant is a resident of Florida and the plaintiff lives in Oregon.

The plaintiff argued that multiple love notes and letters confirmed his future marriage plans with the defendant. However, the defendant married another man and moved into the Holt, Florida home paid for by the plaintiff. The plaintiff filed an action for an equitable lien to recover the funds he sent to the plaintiff for the purchase of the home.The case was tried as a bench trial. The plaintiff was awarded a lien in the amount of $________.