The sale of a luxury home valued at nearly R7m has been put on hold after a woman urgently turned to the court as she claimed that her husband, from whom she is divorcing, is trying to sell the house clandestinely behind her back.

According to a Pretoria News report, the woman told the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) that the house – situated in a nature reserve estate at Hartbeespoort – has been their matrimonial home.

She said that both she and her now estranged husband still live in the house.

Judge Jabulani Nyathi was told that the wife got wind that her husband is selling the house via a second party, but he never informed her about this.

It was only after she saw the house advertised by an estate agent that she realised what was happening.

The wife claimed that this is a ploy by her husband so that once their divorce is before court and the time has come for them to split the assets, the house would not form part of the estate.

She feared that he would pocket the proceeds of the sale and she would end up with nothing.

The parties had been married out of community of property with the accrual system. The wife told Nyathi that the matter was urgent, as she has no idea whether the house has been sold or whether it is about to be transferred.

However, this can take place within a very short period, and it is accordingly necessary for her to approach the court as a matter of urgency, she submitted.

The court ruled in her favour, and the house may not be sold pending the final divorce order.

Full Pretoria News report in The Star

Judgment