Hi

I have walked out without notifying my wife beforehand. 

Is there any legal ramifications that can be done to me for walking out. 

It is purely because I have just had enough of fights and petty nonsense and I need to have my own life. 

We have 3 kids. 

I am going to pay for the kids until such time we can finalise a divorce. I have left a letter explaining what it is all about. And also that I want the divorce to be finalised and that I will pay what I can now as I am currently without work. Doing contract work from Feb hopefully.

We are married in comm. 

I just want my pension payout to survive in the meantime and the rest she can keep. The house, one car, all the belongings. And her pension.

I will note that there will be no further personal claims against each other. 

Would that work. Can she come after my pension or after me in any other way. 

I just want to be free and I don't want to take more stuff. Need to make sure they are ok 

She gets a decent salary and I will cover for the boys as much as I can. 

Please advise. 

I know the way I did it wasn't the best.... Just can't do it anymore 

Hi there and thank you for your question,

I am a practicing attorney based in South Africa and I will assist you with your question. Please feel free to ask as many follow up questions in order to clarify your question. If you have a new question, you must please open a new thread.

Okay, so firstly, you need to understand that in South Africa it makes no difference as to who is to blame for the divorce. It doesn't matter if you both agree to get divorced, or if you walk out on your wife and then she wants a divorce, or she cheats on you and then you want a divorce. The legal test which is applied is whether the marriage has irretrievably broken down and has no prospects of being saved. 

Secondly, if you are married in community of property there is actually 1 joint estate, which you both share in. It is not "your" car or "your" house, but rather "our" house and car. This joint estate is to be shared between the two of you (50 / 50) on divorce. What you can also do is to reach an agreement as to who gets what. e.g. I keep my pension fund, you get the rest. As long as there is an agreement reached, you will be fine and a Court will confirm that agreement. 

Regarding the further personal claims against each other, you might have a claim against her to be maintained if she is the primary breadwinner, and she might have a claim against you to be maintained if you are the primary breadwinner. Again, you can both reach an agreement that neither one of you would have any claim against the other, and a Court will uphold that agreement. But if you can't reach an agreement, you must be aware that she could claim against you! If you don't have a job, and she has a well-paying job, the chances that she can claim against you is probably NIL.

Your kids will continue to have a claim against you for maintenance, so you'll need to deal with that aspect. 

Q: Is there any legal ramifications that can be done to me for walking out. --> As above, no. 

If there is a part of the answer which you need more advice on, or clarity please continue in this same thread instead of opening a new question.

Att. Patrick

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