Abstract
The paper deals with the social and especially the legal significance of engagement. The authors acquaint the reader with the significance of engagement and its legal regulation from the time of Roman law to the present.
However, the paper focus on the legal consequences of engagement based on legislation adopted shortly after World War II. The analysis of legal consequences of engagement under Act No. 21/1948 Coll., on the legal status of fiancés and illegitimate children, surviving participants in the national liberation movement, shows that engagement in this legal regulation even had consequences for legal status (albeit to a limited extent).