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If however, you enter into an antenuptial contract prior to marriage, your individual estates remain separate throughout the marriage.
There are two options in this regard, either you can opt for the accrual system to be applicable to your marriage, or for it not to be.
If it is applicable, the spouse whose estate grew less during the marriage, is entitled to half of the difference in value of the two estates.
If it is not applicable, you each walk away with what you own, however, none of the options above, affect the spousal maintenance you may be entitled to.
It is always advisable for parties to enter into a settlement agreement and proceed with the divorce on an uncontested basis. We can assist in mediation in order to attempt find a compromise that will suit both parties.
If agreement cannot be reached, summons will be issued, pleadings exchanged, and a trial will be held to determine how the estate is to be divided.
If your spouse is in a stronger financial position than you, and you are afraid that you cannot afford the legal costs of a trial or you financially dependent on your spouse , the Rules of Court allow you to apply for interim spousal maintenance and even a contribution towards legal costs from your spouse to help you through this difficult time.
We offer various divorce options to cater for your individual and financial requirements.
If your spouse is outside of the country, or if you got married in another country, you can still get divorced in South Africa.
Under South African Law, it is the domicile of the husband that decides which country's laws will be applicable to your marriage, regardless of which country you actually got married in.
The basic rule in a divorce action is that your spouse needs to know that you are suing for divorce. There are various options available to ensure that this happens, from publishing in a newspaper, signing a special power of attorney, to even serving documents through Facebook!
What happens if you got married a few years ago, seperated from and lost contact with your spouse, and now wish to get divorced?
South African law allows for you to get special permission from a court to publish notice of the divorce proceedings in a news paper, Government Gazette, through email or even Facebook.
Sometimes people get married without getting proper legal advice, not fully understanding the legal implications of being married in community of property.
If you get married in South Africa without signing any agreement beforehand, you are automatically deemed to be married in community of property, which means that not only do you share in each other’s assets equally, but also each other’s debts!
It is not to late to enter into an antenuptial contract, even after you are married. The High Court has the authority to change your marriage from in to out of community of property, thereby protecting your assets from your spouse’s creditors.
For those on a tight budget, we offer a "do it yourself"" option, whereby for a minimal fee, we will draft your divorce documents and guide you through the process from begining to end, without the need of bringing an attorney to court.