Property Distribution in South Africa

From BusinessTech:

On 11 May 2022, the North Gauteng High Court declared Section 7(3)(a) of the Divorce Act inconsistent with the Constitution, with the ruling set to have major implications for marriages and divorces in South Africa. This difference, the court said, amounts to unfair discrimination – particularly for economically disadvantaged people – and limits the operation of Section 7(3).

Notably, individuals who are married out of community of property without accrual, regardless of the content of a signed antenuptial contract, will now be able to ask the court for a redistribution of assets, said Kavita Kooverjee, attorney at Schoeman Law.

However, such an application is not an outright right, she said. “The onus will be on the individual spouse to prove that they directly or indirectly contributed to the other spouse’s estate when instituting Section 7(3). For example, they looked after the kids and the home while the other spouse’s estate grew, being the only breadwinner.”

Read more here.