Legal Articles and Guides
After 10 years of litigation, the lobola conundrum is set to head to the SCA. Joburg City Theatres CEO Xoliswa Nduneni-Ngema’s lengthy battle for half of wealthy businessman Sifiso Dabengwa’s estate was dealt yet another blow last week when the Gauteng High Court (Johannesburg) dismissed her application for leave to appeal, says a Sunday Times report. They would take the matter to the SCA, said Ike Motloung, Nduneni-Ngema’s lawyer.
A woman who says her "husband" gave her the impression that they were legally married for several years now has the go-ahead to attach some of his assets, the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has ordered. According to a Beeld report, Michelle van Tonder, from Secunda, obtained a final order against former lover Patrick John Fann. The court authorised the sheriff to attach money in Fann"s Absa account to the value of R345 000 and pay it over to Van Tonder.
A senior advocate snared a "trophy wife" 25 years his junior, got her pregnant then forced her to sign a contract the day before their wedding barring her from claiming maintenance if the marriage broke down. Then, says a Sunday Times report quoting Acting Judge Leslie Weinkove, he "systematically divested his estate of assets" with the "calculated objective of placing them beyond his wife"s reach".
A woman married in community of property was not entitled to half her wealthy husband"s assets as the marriage had lasted only 20 months, the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) has ruled.
An unusual case of polyandry – a woman with more than one husband – is before the KZN High Court (Durban) in an application in which the woman is trying to get maintenance from her most recent ‘husband’ who is arguing that – unbeknown to him – she was still married to someone else. The Mercury reports the matter came before the court as a ‘Rule 43’ application which, in terms of the Marriages Act, entitles separated spouses to claim maintenance before the finalisation of their divorces. The case involves an unregistered Islamic marriage which is not covered by the Act. However, last year a judge awarded what was believed to be the first interim maintenance order in an Islamic divorce case which was seen as precedent-setting.
The Mthatha High Court has dismissed the appeal of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela who had laid claim to the Qunu home of former President Nelson Mandela. The court also ordered Madikizela-Mandela to pay the cost of the application, according to a report on The Citizen site. She filed an appeal in April after losing an earlier bid to lay claim to Madiba’s Qunu home in the Eastern Cape. Madikizela-Mandela’s lawyer Mvuzo Notyesi reportedly said they would now petition the SCA.
A recent Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) decision underlines the very strong duty on SAPS members to assist victims of domestic violence. The Domestic Violence Act isn't limited to cases of physical harm. It includes a very wide range of abusive conduct) provides legal protection to victims, especially to those most vulnerable such as women, children, disabled people and the elderly.
When a couple gets divorced, one party is often in a better financial position than the other. The person who has custody of the children will also have expenses that the other parent does not have. For this reason the court will issue a maintenance order requiring maintenance to be paid for the children and, depending on the circumstances, to the other party.
Before the court will issue a divorce, it has to be decided who will look after the children. The parents can make an agreement or the court can decide. If you are in the middle of a divorce from your spouse, the most important consideration in deciding which parent should have custody is the best interests of the children.
How the family property will be divided up depends on what property regime the couple adopted when they got married. This will usually be covered in the ante-nuptial agreement if there is one or, if there is no pre-marital contract, then it is determined by law. The default legal position is that civil marriages are in community of property. This means that everything that you own is shared, including property and debts. Accrual means that everything that you earn or buy after you have married also becomes part of the joint estate. If you get divorced, the shared property is divided equally between you. Any debts are also shared.
Marriage is a legal bond between two people, and provides those people with certain rights and obligations against each other. The only way to terminate these rights and obligations (as much as possible), is for the parties to obtain a divorce from each other. A divorce therefore legally terminates a marriage. Once a divorce is granted, each partner may then legally marry someone else.
Let's look at a practical example of an accrual calculation. Let say a couple got married in early 2000 with an ante nuptial contract which included the accrual system.
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