Browsing: Family Law

Lobola was negotiated and partly paid, but the court found the absence of the cow ritual and family integration meant no customary marriage ever came into existence.

The High Court has ruled that Muslim marriages remain subject to the Divorce Act even after a talaq, confirming civil protections for women and children.

A bitter divorce dispute over missing household furniture has ended with an order forcing the return of several items taken from the matrimonial home, including a lounge suite, rocking chair and Big Green Egg, while also settling a R165000 payment dispute between the spouses.

An antenuptial contract does not become invalid simply because some clauses are imperfectly drafted or attempt to exclude assets the law does not permit, a ruling that clarifies how accrual works in South African marriages.

The Western Cape High Court considered whether a former partner may claim interim maintenance after the breakdown of a permanent life partnership, granting temporary financial support pending trial.

The High Court set aside a R2.2 million divorce legal costs order after finding the earlier Rule 43 contribution ruling unjust and intervening under Section 173 of the Constitution.

A High Court judgment has clarified that revival of maintenance for adult child after prior independence requires proof of involuntary loss of self support and genuine commitment to becoming self-sufficient.

The Western Cape High Court has ordered the immediate return of two British children to the United Kingdom after finding that they were wrongfully retained in South Africa, rejecting claims of consent and grave risk under the Hague Convention.

Child maintenance reduced after appeal court finds magistrate inflated income, duplicated child expenses and applied unjustified inflation in maintenance calculation.

A retrenched father convinced the KwaZulu Natal High Court that he could not afford a R62 000 monthly maintenance order, prompting the court to cut child and spousal support.