Thorpe v. Collins

Undercofler, Presiding Justice.

This case presents two questions: one is whether there exists a cause of action in tort for fraud and deceit independent of an action for breach of promise to marry; the other, whether promises made by the putative father to the mother of their illegitimate child to settle an estate on her may be enforced by the child as a third party beneficiary.

Beulah Collins met George Thorpe at a carwash near Lenox Square in October, 1975. When the washing apparatus temporarily broke down, they began, at a nearby hotel, a relationship which lasted over three years. During…