Good dayI am married out of community of...

Asked by Anonymous on 05-05-2024 18:19:13
Question posted in the Divorce Law category relating to Free State

Good day

I am married out of community of property with the accrual. I am also currently providing for her caregiving and medical aid etc. as she was in an accident and subsequently declared disabled and is unable to work. How will assets be split should we divorce and would I be liable to continue paying caretaking fees (medical,caregiver etc.). We do not have any children.Regards

Message from the Lawyer

Posted by Att. Patrick on 05-05-2024 21:35:25

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. 

If you get divorced, you will keep whatever your assets are yours, and she will keep whatever assets are hers. This is how the system works if you are married out of community of property.

However, whoever's estate has grown the least will have a claim against the other person for the accrual, which would be equal to 50% of the difference between the two growths. So if your estate grew by R1m, and he estate grew by R200k, then her claim against your estate would be for R400k, which would essentially seek to equalise her estate to take into account your estate's growth.

She would have a spousal maintenance claim against you moving forwards, especially if she is disabled and can't work. You might end up paying spousal maintenance for her forever. If she was able to work and care for herself then your spousal maintenance could be reduced or even limited to a period of time. E.g. for 3 years or 5 years... To give her an opportunity to get back onto her feet.

But if she can't work, you might very well have this obligation forever.

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.