Congratulations!

You are engaged and getting ready for the big day. Whilst I’ll be the first to admit that there are so many more exciting preparations, like finding the perfect dress and choosing the cake, the importance of deciding and then executing the right marital property regime should never be neglected.

This important step will govern all property during your marriage and in the unfortunate event of a divorce will determine how assets and liabilities are divided.

So what do you need to know:
Firstly you need to decide whether you want to be married in community of property or out of Community of Property.  If you don’t register an Antenuptial Contract your marriage will automatically be in Community of Property.

‘The consequences of being married in community of property is that there is one joint estate that belongs to the spouses in equal and undivided shares. That familiar phrase “what’s mine is your’s and what’s your’s is mine” is a true reflection of how assets and liabilities are vested where there is a marriage in community of property.

If you decide that this regime is not for you, then you need to have an ANC prepared and registered to reflect that yours will be a marriage out of community of property. Further you need to decide whether you want the accrual system to apply to the marriage out of community of property.

A marriage out of community of property with accrual will have the effect that each spouse will deal with his or her property during the marriage independent of the other. However at the dissolution of the marriage (irrespective of whether this occurs by death or divorce) the spouse whose estate shows no accrual or a smaller accrual, can claim against the other spouse for an amount equal to half of the difference between the accrual of the respective estates.

The other alternative for a marriage of out community of property is where you choose not to apply the accrual system i.e a marriage out of community of property without accrual. With this regime, each spouse’s estate is kept separate and is independent of the other spouse both during the marriage as well at the dissolution of the marriage. Neither spouse can claim against the other.

Choosing the right regime for your marriage must be given its due importance as it is one of the most important contract you will enter into. For further information make an appointment with our offices and we will be happy to assist you and your partner in making the right choice for your marriage.