Woman’s fiancé dies months before the wedding. Now their wedding venue is suing the grieving bride: ‘Unjust and ghoulish’

Weddings are special occasions that couples often go all out for when planning, often investing a significant amount of money with the expectation of walking down the aisle. But that doesn’t mean things can’t go wrong shortly before the event is set to take place. One bride faced the loss of her fiancé just months before their wedding, but her grief was compounded by the wedding venue suing her for alleged breach of contract.

25-year-old Diego Hernandez was slated to get married at the Posey Meadows, a modern farmhouse venue in San Marcos, Texas, on Nov. 20. The couple put down a $15,909.28 deposit to secure the date, but in late April, he passed away, according to documents obtained by KSAT.

Diego’s mother, Lucy Hernandez, told the outlet that his fiancée had tried to get a refund from the venue after his death in April. However, the venue allegedly refused to issue a refund, despite being informed of the groom’s passing. Instead, Posey Meadows’ owner supposedly offered the grieving bride alternative options in place of the scheduled wedding: rescheduling the booking to a future date with a possible partial refund or applying the deposit toward a different event.

Wedding venue countersues for alleged breach of contract

Neither option was taken by the bride, who reportedly insisted on getting a full refund. However, the venue maintained that a refund was not possible during Hernandez’s phone call with the owner—a decision that the family has criticized. “Where are their morals? Where are their moral principles?” Hernandez said. “We don’t have a fight in us. We don’t. We’re emotionally drained. This is just weighing heavily.”

The issue came to a head when Posey Meadows reportedly filed a countersuit after Diego’s fiancée, who declined to be interviewed, sent the venue a demand letter requesting a refund in June, before it escalated into a lawsuit in July. The lawsuit reportedly described the venue as an “unjust and ghoulish windfall” for keeping the deposit in light of Diego’s death.

Posey Meadows, on the other hand, claimed in their lawsuit that the fiancée had breached their contract by requesting a refund and failing to pay the remaining balance. The lawsuit also emphasized that the contract the couple signed allegedly has a clause stating that refunds would not be issued despite cancellations, and claimed that a death certificate was not presented.

The fiancée’s attorney, however, denies the venue’s claims. According to the attorney, he repeatedly offered to submit Diego’s proof of death prior to the lawsuit, only for Posey Meadows to allegedly remain silent. Legal documents also included the death certificate, the attorney said.

Addressing contractual duties when a named party in the contract passes away is a complex issue. Foundwell Legal founder and attorney Casey Glasser told Moneywise that the death of the party involved does not automatically invalidate a contract. However, she stated that the party rendering the service “is not automatically entitled to keep the entire deposit or collect the remaining balance either.”

It remains unclear who will come out ahead in the lawsuit, as there are several factors to consider, such as state laws, the clauses in the contract, and both sides’ legal arguments. This is yet another situation where legal and moral perspectives are at odds.

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