F.A.Q

Unfortunately not.  Any Ante-nuptial Contract signed after you've been married, will not be legally enforceable and cannot be registered.

In order to be legally valid and enforceable, the Ante-nuptial Contract must be signed by both parties and be notarised by an attorney, who is also a Notary Public before the marriage is concluded.

If this was not done, the parties are by law married in community of property and the only way to change their marital regime,  would be by way of a very costly High Court application to obtain permission for the registration of a Notarial Contract (also commonly referred  to as a Post-nuptial Contract) to change their marital regime from in community of property to that of being out of community of property.
Yes, it is possible to change your marital regime without getting a divorce.

However, both parties must consent to the change and it will involve a costly High Court application to obtain permission for the registration of a Notarial Contract (also commonly referred to as a Post-nuptial Contract) to change your marital regime from in community of property to that of being out of community of property.

For more information on the matter, proceed to review the Post Nuptial Contracts category under our F.A.Q.

No. On receipt of the signed Ante-nuptial Contract AND power of attorney our notary public will issue a certificate to hand to the marriage officer. You will then be able to proceed with the marriage and the marriage officer will be able to register the marriage.

Even though the registration process will mostly only be concluded after the marriage had taken place, it must be done within 3 months of signature of the Ante-nuptial Contract for it to be valid and enforceable against third parties.

The Ante-nuptial Contract must be signed in the Notary's presence by the intended spouses, OR by someone both have given a Power of Attorney to sign on their behalf.

In order to facilitate the online registration process, we require your Power of Attorney to enable us to sign your contract on your behalf, in the physical presence of the Notary.
After delivery of the original Ante-nuptial Contract from the offices of the Registrar of Deeds, the document will be scanned and emailed to you.

The original can then be collected from our offices, or the document can also be sent via Postnet or couriered  to you, on your request, at an additional fee.
A credit report is information about your credit history payment behaviour that is maintained by credit bureaus. It contains information such as your name, address, employer and ID number - the details you give to credit grantors when completing a credit application form.

Credit bureaus also keeps details on your credit history such as your account history and history of paying habits, that is, whether you pay your accounts regularly and on time. A credit report does not contain any data such as race, religious beliefs, political affiliations or medical histories.
Default data is negative information supplied to credit bureaus by the store or bank if you default on your credit agreement with them, that is, if you fail to pay your account.

A default remains on your credit report for 1 year, depending on the description of the default. Subjective classifications of consumer defaults remain for 1 year. Consumer default classifications where enforcement action is taken - such as bad debt written off or handed over, credit card revoked or repossession - remain on your credit report for 1 years.

Default data will be removed once the default is paid in full. Once the default has been paid, the lender has seven days to update their information and inform the credit bureaus of the paid up status. The bureaus, in turn, have seven days from receiving the notification from the lender to amend your credit report.
Credit bureaus are required by the National Credit Act (NCA) to retain this information on the consumer's report for the prescribed retention period - regardless of whether it reflects negatively or positively on the consumer. Therefore this information may not be removed before the prescribed data retention period.

Most of the credit granters in South Africa are also members of the CPA (Credit Providers Association). As members they have agreed to the time periods for which data should be displayed on a consumer's credit report.

The display period for a default is 1; for a judgment, 5 years. These periods are in line with the data retention periods prescribed by the NCA. This enables banks and stores to make informed risk decisions when deciding on whether to grant you credit.
A listing of "Bad Debt - written off" does not mean that the amount was actually written off as noncollectable and is therefore no longer payable.

It is actually consumer default classification where enforcement action is taken, i.e. the relevant creditor has written off the amount in his own debtor's ledger as bad debt and proceeded to hand it over for collection by attorneys or Debt Collectors.


A judgment is granted when a court orders that you make payment on your debt after a certain legal process was followed.

Usually this process will involve a letter of demand, followed by a summons issued to the individual — note that legally the summons does not have to be served on the individual in person, but can be served on the individual’s last known address, etc. The summons informs you of the legal action being taken and allows 10 days you to defend the matter.

Failure to attend to the matter will result in the court granting judgment by default. The judgment will be listed on the credit bureau system for five years or until paid in full, whichever occurs first. 

DO NOTE that when an unpaid judgment is removed after 5 years, the debt still remains collectible. Unless fully paid, a judgment remains payable and enforceable for 30 years from the day it was granted.
  1. Too much debt: Having too much available credit can sometimes harm your credit score. Credit or service providers may feel that you have the ability to spend more than you could potentially pay back. You might want to consider closing a few accounts or asking to have your credit limits reduced.
  2. Your account balances are too high: High levels of debt can signal to potential credit or service providers that you are spending more than you can afford. It is a good idea to use your credit cards regularly but remember to keep your balances below 35% of your available credit limit. If you have balances above 50%, you could see your credit score start to drop.
  3. Late Payments: Late payments will drop your score. In other words a 90 day late payment is more damaging than 30 days late. Always pay at least the minimum amount on your credit account each month.
  4. Too many new accounts: Looking for new credit can equate with higher risk if the enquiries are done across many different industries within a short period of time. Opening several credit accounts in a short period of time affects your credit score. The impact from applying for credit will vary from person to person based on their unique credit histories.
  5. Public Record information: Bankruptcies and judgments on your credit report are items of public record that indicate that you did not honour a particular debt obligation. In some cases, such as judgments, it also indicates that the credit or service provider took legal action against you in an attempt to collect the debt. An item in this category will significantly lower your score. Payment of these types of items will not immediately undo the damage to your credit score.
Yes, the only requirement is that the debt review order must be set aside before the High Court can make the sequestration order.
Yes, the only requirement is that the debt review order must be set aside before the High Court can make the sequestration order.
At all depends on whether the divorce is uncontested or not. An uncontested divorce is the best and most cost effective for all parties concerned. It can be finalised within 6 weeks, provided the court roll is up to date.

If a divorce is contested it may take between 2 - 3 years, but most contested divorces do settle long before they go on trial.
Legal separation does not exist in South Africa. Even if you are no longer living with your spouse and not divorced, in terms of South African law, you are still married.
Yes, Dionne Lamprecht Inc now offers online divorce packages starting from only R1,950. These packages are for those who want to commence the divorce process urgently as well as save money.

Sent us an email with your contact details and we will send you an information questionnaire to complete. Fill in your details, and our legal team will review and send you your papers. Attend court on your own, issue papers and attend to Sheriff.

Please Note: While we offer the DIY package for your convenience, we do not encourage pursuing divorce without proper consultation of an attorney.
In South African law a Rule 43 application in the High Court or Rule 58 application in the Regional Court is the mechanism used to claim interim maintenance pending divorce being finalised.

This is supposed to be a quick, effective and cost saving measure to help an applicant.

You can secure the following relief in a Rule 43 / Rule 58 -
  1. Interim care or contact with the child;
  2. Maintenance for the wife and/or children;
  3. Enforcing certain payments, such as for the bond on the matrimonial home, vehicles, school fees, medical aid premiums and even deposits on new accommodation and relocation costs;
  4. Interim contribution towards the costs of the divorce and legal fees; and/or
  5. An order for delivery of a car, furniture, etc.
Rule 43/58 deals with many of the issues that will ultimately be dealt with in the final divorce action, but is an interim solution and such an application can be brought:
  1. Before issue of the summons; or
  2. Simultaneously with the issuing of the summons; or
  3. After a notice of intention to defend is received.
Often a wife may not have access to funds to pay for her own legal costs. In order to level the playing fields, our courts have created a mechanism for a claim for a contribution to legal costs.

Rules 43(1) and (6) clearly provides a mechanism whereby a party can claim a contribution to legal costs during the divorce proceedings. The reasoning is that an applicant must be put into a position to present his/her case adequately and, for example if one party embarked on litigation on a luxurious scale by paying exorbitant amounts to his attorneys, a court will assist the other party.

ln exercising its discretion in the determination of the amount of the contribution towards costs to be awarded, the court is bound by section 9(1) of the Constitution, Act 108 of 1996, to guarantee both parties the right to equality before the law and equal protection of the law - the equality of arms.
Being married with accrual is in our opinion the most appropriate and ideal system. A successful marriage is in fact based on equality and a partnership. Upon dissolution of the marriage, whether it is by death or divorce, the net values of the estates of each spouse must be determined separately and the larger estate must transfer an amount equal to half of the difference, to the smaller estate. The accrual system does not apply automatically to all marriages out of community of property.

For the accrual system to apply, the ANC must be drafted in a certain way. The accrual system incorporates a calculation that is applied when the marriage is dissolved by divorce. The spouses will share the assets during the course of their marriage based on a particular calculation when the marriage is terminated.

There are certain assets which will not be taken into account when determining the accrual (and cannot be included in calculation of the the net value of the estate):
  • Any asset excluded from the accrual system under the ANC, as well as any other asset that the spouse acquired by virtue of his/her possession or former possession of such asset.
  • Any inheritance, legacy, trust or donation received by a spouse during the marriage from any third party, as well as any other asset that the spouse has acquired by virtue of his/her possession or former possession of the inheritance, legacy, trust or donation, unless the spouses have agreed otherwise in their ANC or the testator/trix or donor has stipulated otherwise.
  • Any donation between the spouses.
  • Any amount that accrued to a spouse by way of damages, other than damages for patrimonial loss or the proceeds of an insurance policy in respect of a dread disease.
The fact that a Trust’s assets are a trust’s assets does not automatically exclude those trust assets from an accrual determination.

The court may pierce the corporate veil of the Trust if the trust is in fact the alter ego of the donor / trustee. This means that the Court can declare that the Trust assets form part of the accrued estate.

Where a spouse has transferred assets in his/her name into a trust, in order for the court to take such assets into account, there must be evidence first that the party in question controlled the trust, and second that, but for the trust, he/she would have acquired and owned the assets in his/her own name.
Generally the Pension Fund / Provident Fund is the largest asset in the divorce next to the marital home. The clause relating to the allocation of the Pension Fund in divorce Settlement Agreement must be drafted by an attorney who specializes in Divorce Law as the Pension Funds are incredibly strict about wording, and they will not hesitate to reject a claim if the clause is not correct. Such an mistake will result in substantial costs being incurred by the claimant as the matter will have to be redrafted and resubmitted to court.

Section 7(7) of the Divorce Act provides that a person’s pension interest or interest in an annuity fund will be taken into account for the calculation of their estates. The interest is deemed to be an asset in their estate, even though it is not yet payable. The important relevant provisions that deal with the allocation of unaccrued pension benefits to a non-member spouse upon divorce are contained in the Divorce Act and in the Pension Funds Act 24 of 1956. (Financial Services Laws General Amendment Act changes Living Annuities and divorce)

If couples are married or in a civil union in community of property, each partner will have a claim against the other’s pension fund. The claim will be for half of the pension interest on the date of divorce. Where couples are married out of community of property with the accrual, the spouse’s pension fund value will be taken into consideration in order to determine the value of his/her estate for purposes of the accrual calculation only.

There is no claim against the Pension Fund where couples are married out of community of property without the accrual. The definition of “pension interest” is to be read as including the after-tax withdrawal benefit ( as defined in the rules of the preservation fund) that would be payable to a member if he or she had opted to take a total withdrawal benefit as at the date of divorce.

The value of a pension interest is determined by definition in the Divorce Act read with the rules of the particular Pension Fund. A Retirement Annuity is not a “policy” and cannot be ceded.
We can assist you no matter where you're located nationally or abroad, as long as you have access to the internet. We have built a national network based on  longstanding relationships with specifically chosen correspondents, situated in close proximity to every High Court, to ensure our clients' access through our network.

We also have at least one preferred advocate practising at each of the High Courts, which we can brief directly, or consult with virtually via Skype, Zoom, Teams, Whatsapp, Meet or Duo to ensure that we can attend to your needs, without going through a third party.
Our first consultation is limited to 15 minutes which is free of charge. During this time we assess your case and make a determination as to whether or not we can assist you. If the consultation proceeds beyond this point, we will discuss our tariffs going forward.

Our tariffs will firstly be based on the type and complexity of the relevant matter, then the merits involved with regards to the legal aid sought, and lastly the anticipated time and resources to be allocated to the matter.

We assess each matter on its own merits in addition to taking into account the individuality of the client involved. 
Although a face-to-face meeting is always more intimate, we have never physically met the majority of our clients. In the past two decades, in excess of 65% of our clients have only dealt with us only by telephone and email.

Only slightly more than 30% of our clients request physical face-to-face meetings and less than 4% choose virtual meetings, mostly using Whatsapp, Zoom and Skype.

We are quite comfortable to accommodate you either telephonically or via virtual meeting as opposed to a physical face-to-face meeting. After all, your are the client and the choice is yours...
Insolvency - Insolvent
When your total debt exceeds the value of your assets, you are deemed to be insolvent. Insolvency is a term used to describe a company or person's financial state - solvent vs insolvent.

Bankruptcy - Bankrupt
When an individual is formally declared to be insolvent by a High Court upon application.

Voluntary Surrender
The process where an individual launches an application on a voluntary basis to the High Court in order to have themselves declared bankrupt.

Sequestration
The process where a creditor launches an application to the High Court in order to have a debtor declared bankrupt.

Liquidation
The process where a close corporation or company is declared bankrupt by way of special resolution or order of court.
Yes, you can. However, the process will vary depending on whether the company is solvent or not, in addition to whether you are only a director or a shareholder or both and the percentage of your shareholding (if any). We therefore offer a free analysis of the company in order to advise our clients on the correct strategical process. 
No. You can change your marital regime at any time after your marriage, provided that you comply with the requirements. It is quite expensive, as the process requires an application to be made to the High court in order to obtain consent. Both parties must be in agreement, all the creditors must be notified and the notarial contract, also referred to as a Postnuptial Contract,  can not prejudice the rights of any current creditor - it will only be applicable on future debts to be incurred.
Recently, our Constitutional Court, in having to consider whether a post-nuptial marriage contract concluded without the supervision of the court was valid, found that home drafted contracts were not valid and enforceable if not sanctioned by a court order.

The Court confirmed that the only way married couples could change their marital regimes were to approach the courts in compliance with Section 21 of the Matrimonial Property Act, and that any contract entered into without the supervision of the court, would not be enforceable.

In your case therefore it does appear that your home contract will not be valid and enforceable to change your matrimonial property regime.
Insolvency - Insolvent
When your total debt exceeds the value of your assets, you are deemed to be insolvent. Insolvency is a term used to describe a company or person's financial state - solvent vs insolvent.

Bankruptcy - Bankrupt
When an individual is formally declared to be insolvent by a High Court upon application.

Voluntary Surrender
The process where an individual launches an application on a voluntary basis to the High Court in order to have themselves declared bankrupt.

Sequestration
The process where a creditor launches an application to the High Court in order to have a debtor declared bankrupt.

Liquidation
The process where a close corporation or company is declared bankrupt by way of special resolution or order of court.
No. Insolvency is a civil matter in South Africa, not a criminal and therefore you will qualify for a visa and your immigration will be legal.
Insolvency - Insolvent
When your total debt exceeds the value of your assets, you are deemed to be insolvent. Insolvency is a term used to describe a company or person's financial state - solvent vs insolvent.

Bankruptcy - Bankrupt
When an individual is formally declared to be insolvent by a High Court upon application.

Voluntary Surrender
The process where an individual launches an application on a voluntary basis to the High Court in order to have themselves declared bankrupt.

Sequestration
The process where a creditor launches an application to the High Court in order to have a debtor declared bankrupt.

Liquidation
The process where a close corporation or company is declared bankrupt by way of special resolution or order of court.
Section 23(3) of the Insolvency Act, 1936 states that an insolvent may follow any profession or occupation or enter into any employment, but he may not without his trustee' written consent carry on, or be employed in any capacity or have any direct or indirect interest in, the business of a trader who is a general dealer or a manufacturer.

An insolvent may also not be a director of a company or member of a close corporation and while sequestrated, may not practise as an estate agent or own a liquor licence.

It will depend on a number and combination of facts, but just to name a few::
  • What's the current value of the vehicle;
  • Whether your vehicle is fully paid or not;
  • The manner in which it was financed;
  • The amount due on the outstanding balance; etc.
If your vehicle is fully paid - it will form part of the assets of your estate and if it's not of significant value, the appointed trustee may sell it back to you on a monthly instalment plan.

If your vehicle is financed in terms of a Lease or Rental Agreement, then the Financing Creditor has the option to allow you to keep possession of the vehicle, provided you keep on paying for it.

However, if your vehicle is financed under a credit agreement such as an Instalment Sales Agreement, your vehicle will form part of the assets of your estate. Unless the amount still due is relatively low in relation to the value of the vehicle, you will most likely loose it. In almost all cases the Trustee will allow the relevant creditor to sell the vehicle on auction and then to do a set-off against their claim, once the relevant costs have been paid.

Should you lose your vehicle we can refer you to a Rent-to-Own company who will allow you to rent a vehicle of your choice, through them. It wouldn't matter whether or not you were sequestrated or if your credit record is impaired. With the Rent-to-Own option you still become the owner of the vehicle once its been fully paid. 
No. Your sequestration does not affect any existing maintenance order and you will need to continue paying for it. However, you may approach the Maintenance Court and apply to have the amount payable, reduced.

Reduction in maintenance falls under Maintenance in our Family Law Division.
Yes - you will be allowed to trade as a Sole Proprietor. Do note that there are certain  limits imposed by various legislation, such as:

  • The Companies Act, 2008 prohibits you from acting as a Director of a Company; and
  • The Close Corporations Act,1984 prohibits you from being a member in a Close Corporation;
  • The section 50 of the Property Practitioners Act, 2019 disqualifies an insolvent and prohibits the EAAB from furnishing a sequestrated person with a Fidelity Fund Certificate for the entire duration of their insolvency. 
Although section 23 of the Insolvency Act, 1936 states that an insolvent may follow any profession or occupation or enter into any employment, for the duration of his sequestration he may not, without the written consent of his trustee, carry on, or be employed in any capacity or have any direct or indirect interest in, the business of a trader who is a general dealer or a manufacturer.
Any Retirement Annuity is by legislation against your insolvent estate and so are any funds paid to you in terms of a claim for personal injury. However, policies that are ceded to creditors, will serve as security for payment of such creditor's claim.
Yes - provided the account has no overdraft facilities. We recommend that as soon as possible AFTER your sequestration, you open a Savings Account with a Debit Card facility at a financial institution which you don't owe money to.
No - You will not be required to appear in court personally, we appoint an advocate to appear on your behalf.
A sequestration order will have the following effect on your'e spouse's estate:

Married in community of property:
The two individual estates that existed before your marriage, became one joint estate when you got married. Therefore to combined joint estate is sequestrated and both spouses receive the status of an insolvent.

Married out of community of property:
If a marriage out of community (with or without accrual) exists,  Section 21 of the Insolvency Act provides that the separate assets of both spouses may vest in the Master and later the trustee when either spouse is placed under sequestration.

Section 21 places the burden of proof on the solvent spouse that all goods in his or her estate, is indeed his or her property, and therefore excluded from the debtor’s estate.