Good dayI got dirvoced 2018 September, w...

Asked by Mduduzi on 20-09-2021 16:02:01
Question posted in the Divorce Law category relating to Mpumalanga

Good day

I got dirvoced 2018 September, we reconciled almost immediately, but the decree was issued, we carried on living as a normal married couple and bought a house together.

I wish to get out of the marriage permanently, does the decree still stand or I would need to file again?

Message from the Lawyer

Posted by Att. Patrick on 20-09-2021 16:14:00

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.

Please keep in mind that our discussions is for general information purposes only. Our engagement on this website does not create an attorney-client relationship. 

Do you mind if I take a moment to review your question? I will come back to you shortly!

Att. Patrick

Message from the Lawyer

Posted by Att. Patrick on 20-09-2021 16:15:47

If you received a Court Order (sometimes called a decree of divorce) then you are divorced. 

The fact that you have lived together after that does NOT revive the marriage. Also, it does not create any sort of common law marriage. 

Therefore, factually, you are not married. You are divorced. 

To answer your question, the decree of divorce remains. You are divorced. You do not need to file for divorce again.

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 

Please remember this is a dialog if you have follow-up questions please use the REPLY button and ask. If I did not answer the question you thought you were asking, please respond with the specific question you wanted to be answered. I hope you found my answer helpful, and you have finished asking your questions, please click on the GREEN ACCEPT button in order to mark the question as closed.

Message from the client

what about the house we bought together? which was after we received the decree.

Message from the Lawyer

Posted by Att. Patrick on 20-09-2021 16:29:45

The house was then bought by the two of you, as individual people, 50/50 partnership. So you both own 50% of the house. You are simply co-owners of the property, just like you might buy a house with your sibling, or a friend. You are just co-owners of the property. 

If you were still married, it would be a different story. But you're not married. 

I hope that this helps?

If you would like to view the entire answer, you will need to either login or register a FREE account.

Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER: Advice or answers from Lawyers on South African Legal Advice are not substitutes for the proper advice of an Lawyer. South African Legal Advice is a public forum and questions and responses are not private or confidential or protected by the attorney-client privilege. The Lawyer who assists with your question is not your Lawyer, and the response above is not to be considered to be legal advice. You should not read this response to propose specific action or address specific circumstances, but only to give you a sense of general principles of law that might affect the situation you describe. Application of these general principles to particular circumstances must be done by a lawyer who has spoken with you in confidence, learned all relevant information, and explored various options. Before acting on these general principles, you should hire a lawyer licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction to which your question pertains. The responses above are from individual Lawyers, not South African Legal Advice. The site and services are provided “as is”. This site is not for emergency questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. Please carefully read the Terms of Service.