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Summary MARRIAGE - PATRIMONY AND NON PATRIMONY
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Summary of 12 pages for the course Family Law at wits
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FAMILY LAW: TOPIC 6Patrimonial Consequences of Marriage
WHAT IS MARITAL PROPERTY?
Marital or matrimonial property is everything that is owned by a married couple.
Therefore, marital property means property owned by people who are married to each
other.
This includes property as well as all assets. Bank accounts are also shared.
Their matrimonial property system regulates their debts.
WHY ARE THESE RULES IMPORTANT?
Generally knowing who owns what isn’t important, however when the marriage ends, in
the case of bankruptcy or if a spouse wants to sell or give things to a third party, it is
important to know.
MATRIMONIAL PROPERTY SYSTEMS
A matrimonial property system is a set of rules which determines who owns the marital
property, who owes the debt, whether spouses can sell or give things to other people,
and how the property should be shared out when the marriage ends.
Determines several other matters- whether a spouse can get a credit card or bring a
court case.
Matrimonial property system will tell us who owns assets, who is responsible for liabilities
and who can administer the estate.
While there is an overlap between matrimonial property systems and obligation to
support, this obligation is present regardless of which matrimonial property system
applies to their marriage.
There are three main matrimonial property systems:
1. In community of property: Everything is shared and jointly owned. Everything falls
under the communal marriage estate – jointly owns all the assets and liabilities- profits and
losses:
Residual/ default regime – everything gets split in half.
Advantages – Get half of everything even if you didn’t earn it. Works best for the
person with the least assets.
2. Out of community of property without accrual system: Nothing is shared, ownership
is separate. They do not share profits and losses.
, 3. Marriage out of community of property with accrual system: The spouses own
everything separately during the marriage, and all gains made during the marriage are
shared at the end.
MARRIAGES IN COMMUNITY OF PROPERTY
The Default Matrimonial Property System
The in-community-of-property system is the default matrimonial property system in
South Africa.
Therefore, if couples marry in South Africa, they will be married in community of
property, unless:
◦ This is the default unless the couple signs an ante nuptial stating differently or the
husband is domiciled in a country where the default is out of community of property.
◦ It is also the default when couples marry monogamously under customary law.
Sharing Everything
Everything owned at the time of the marriage and everything acquired during the
marriage is added to the joint estate (assets and debts).
The spouses are tied co-owners of the undivided and indivisible joint estate.
No documents need to be signed or changed; this all happens automatically.
It doesn’t matter what a spouse brought into the marriage; they own everything equally
– including debts. When a marriage ends the joint estate is automatically divided in half.
Separate Property that Does Not Fall into the Joint Estate
General rule: all assets fall into the joint estate and become the joint property of both
spouses.
However, there are some exceptions to this rule:
1. Excluded by an antenuptial contract: The spouses can sign an antenuptial
contract which provides that certain assets that they own at the time of the wedding
will not fall into the joint estate. Pretium succedit in locum rei and res succedit in
locum pretii. If a spouse sells something that was excluded the money remains theirs.
This contract only excludes particular assets and the couple is therefore still married
in community of property.
2. Excluded in a will or deed of donation: when someone leaves money or assets to
someone else, they can state that if that person marries in community of property,
they want these assets or money excluded from the joint estate.
3. Delictual damages from third parties for non-patrimonial loss: If a spouse is
awarded non-patrimonial damages for a delict committed by a third party, the money
does not fall into the joint estate.
4. Delictual damages compensating for bodily injury inflected by the other
spouse.
5. Other: refer to page 288 if you wish.
Liability for Debts
All debts, except for delictual damages, fall under the joint estate.
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