Detrimental Reliance? Other recourse?

[Rileycamren]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kansas. I am considering pursuing a matter in Small Claims, but need a legal opinion.
The situation is this: In July, 2013, my friend of 20yrs whom I had not seen in several yrs knocked on my door. After several times when he came to visit, we had a serious conversation. I was anxious about a relationship with him, something he clearly wanted. One huge reason was that I had been and was still in the process of a court battle which was financially and emotionally draining. In addition, with a history of PTSD and depression, I as fearful that my current, fairly steady life would be jeopardized if it did not work out. I now have a 15 yr old and a house and serious obligations which might be jeopardized. He understood and agreed absolutely that if and when that happened, he would certainly help.
We, at that time, entered a verbal agreement wherein if we broke up, he would assist me financially for a short time if I needed help. He is a small business owner and has much greater resources that I, as a single mother, have.
I made a job change , seeing this as an answer to his " we don't spend enough time together" statement. He encouraged me to do this. After quitting due to what I consider unsafe practices ( I am a nurse) , he gave me an ultimatum regarding giving away my dog due to his phobia about dogs, which I was never aware of. We then broke up.. I began to experience severe depression and emotional flashbacks, just as I had feared. He issued me a $4000.00 check as per our agreement to help me. After a texting argument when things turned ugly, the next morning when I went to cash this, he had stopped payment on it!
If it not for my trust in him and our verbal agreement, I would never be in the situation that I am in today, sadly. Now, I am still trying to recover 5 months later. I have experience severe depression and resultant inability to work. I am trying as hard as I can to get a new position and stabilize financially. My question is this: can I sue in Small a Claims Court for detrimental reliance? He started to honor our agreement but then reneged.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Kansas. I am considering pursuing a matter in Small Claims, but need a legal opinion.
The situation is this: In July, 2013, my friend of 20yrs whom I had not seen in several yrs knocked on my door. After several times when he came to visit, we had a serious conversation. I was anxious about a relationship with him, something he clearly wanted. One huge reason was that I had been and was still in the process of a court battle which was financially and emotionally draining. In addition, with a history of PTSD and depression, I as fearful that my current, fairly steady life would be jeopardized if it did not work out. I now have a 15 yr old and a house and serious obligations which might be jeopardized. He understood and agreed absolutely that if and when that happened, he would certainly help.
We, at that time, entered a verbal agreement wherein if we broke up, he would assist me financially for a short time if I needed help. He is a small business owner and has much greater resources that I, as a single mother, have.
I made a job change , seeing this as an answer to his " we don't spend enough time together" statement. He encouraged me to do this. After quitting due to what I consider unsafe practices ( I am a nurse) , he gave me an ultimatum regarding giving away my dog due to his phobia about dogs, which I was never aware of. We then broke up.. I began to experience severe depression and emotional flashbacks, just as I had feared. He issued me a $4000.00 check as per our agreement to help me. After a texting argument when things turned ugly, the next morning when I went to cash this, he had stopped payment on it!
If it not for my trust in him and our verbal agreement, I would never be in the situation that I am in today, sadly. Now, I am still trying to recover 5 months later. I have experience severe depression and resultant inability to work. I am trying as hard as I can to get a new position and stabilize financially. My question is this: can I sue in Small a Claims Court for detrimental reliance? He started to honor our agreement but then reneged.

You can always file a suit against someone, for any reason at all, but I do not see that you have a legal action that will have any success.

One, you do not have a written contract.

Two, this seems less a contractual issue and more a personal matter, where in retrospect poor choices were made. This cannot be resolved in a courtroom.

Three, the terms of what you consider a contract are not clear or unambiguous - largely because the terms were not written out - and your reliance on these orally expressed terms does not seem to be reasonable or unforeseeable.

Four, I can easily see your oral agreement being discharged by impracticability of performance.

You can run all of the facts by an attorney in your area, but my feeling is that you do not have any legal action to pursue against the fellow. The choices you made to change your life, although purportedly for him, were made by you.

Good luck.