Divorce Diaries: Anti-Dissipation Orders in Action
When you’re going through a divorce it’s common to suspect your ex is selling off assets on the sly or concealing them from you outright. The paranoia is justified: you could leave the marriage with a lot less than your fair share. A recent SCA (Supreme Court of Appeal) battle over an ex-husband’s decision to sell his property without telling his ex-wife raises further concerns. Why did his ex-wife’s “anti-dissipation interdict” fail, and what can you do to avoid the same fate?
A Valentine’s Day thought for life partners: What is a “Universal Partnership”
“Marriage is the chief cause of divorce” (Groucho Marx) This Valentine’s Day, think about the legal aspects of your romantic relationship. They’re a lot less exciting than the traditional declarations of love backed up by chocolates and flowers, but they’re just as important in ensuring a strong, committed life partnership in which both of you […]
Maintenance claims and life partners
More and more couples are opting to live together as permanent life partners rather than enter into a formal marriage. The risk for such couples is that whilst our law is steadily (if slowly and cautiously) extending many of the protections of formal marriage to unmarried life partners, that process is not by any means […]
It’s Wedding Season – Three Questions to Ask Before You Marry
“Marriage is a matter of more worth / Than to be dealt in by attorneyship” (Shakespeare) Wedding Season is well and truly upon us, and if you (or anyone near and dear to you) is busy planning for marriage (note that we are talking “civil marriage” here, “customary marriages” and “civil unions” are beyond the […]
New ruling on divorce assets: How does it affect you?
“…the inequality at hand is caused when, after the conclusion of the marriage, a distortion is caused by the fact that one spouse contributes directly or indirectly to the other’s maintenance or the increase of the other’s estate without any quid pro quo.” (Extract from judgment below) You may have read of the recent High […]
Why Life Partners Still Need Cohabitation Agreements and Wills
“Census data of 2016 reveals that approximately 3.2 million South Africans cohabit outside of marriage and that this number is increasing steadily.” (Extract from judgment below) What happens if your life partner dies without leaving you anything in their will (“Last Will and Testament”)? Do you have the same protections as married spouses do? A […]
Can You Change Your Marital Regime After Marriage?
Wedding bells are ringing, and the legal niceties of how the marriage will affect your “matrimonial property system” may not be high on your priority list. They should be – your choice of marital regime now is critical. You don’t want for example to find that you can’t get a mortgage bond or have your […]
Who Gets the House on Divorce?
Historically 44% of South African marriages have ended in divorce, and there has reportedly been a 20% surge in new divorce applications since lockdown. For those unfortunate couples whose marriages do eventually fall apart, often the most important asset in play from both a financial and an emotional perspective is the family home. So it […]