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Divorce Questions, Answers and Free Resources – Get information now.

Divorce Services and Advice

Divorce Questions and Answers

Update: We introduced this Divorce Questions and Answers page for you to post questions you may have on the topic. For example, if you want to know how to get divorced fast; post a question with some background facts. At the same time, should you be able to assist others who posted questions below, requiring some advice on Divorce; please proceed and reply to their comments. In that manner, we would all be able to assist each other and increase our online knowledgebase. Therefore, although we are legal consultancy, specialising in family law, you may have problems or experiences that we have not encountered. Let us share our knowledge of Divorce.


There are various other family law resources on this website that you may find useful. For example, there is a downloadable child maintenance calculator. The resources may assist you with whatever questions you have, or information you require on Divorce. Therefore, after posting your question, or any time after, have a look at the useful resources and information on our website. Some of these resources are listed hereafter.

Articles and Q&A

There is a range of legal articles on this website dealing with various family law issues. Some of these articles are straight forward, outlining the legal position on family law-related topics. For example, how to apply for child maintenance, or how to get divorced. Other articles are written in the form of answering a specific legal question. For example, do I pay maintenance if I am unemployed, or what do I do if I want to leave the country with my child, and the other parent does not want to provide consent? Those articles are in blog format. This means that you are welcome to comment or pose questions to increase our knowledge base. The clear idea behind our website is that we want to make family law legal information more accessible and available to the public.

Downloadable resources

We created some downloadable resources for free on this website. They are:

1 Free Basic Will Tool Kit

2. Free Shariah Will Template

3. Free Divorce Starter Tool Kit

4. Free Child Maintenance Calculator

5. Free DIY Urgent Child Contact Toolkit

Feel free to download these useful resources. Click on the links above, and complete the online purchase process. The purchase price is R 0. Thereafter, a downloadable link would be emailed to you. Once you received the email, download it as soon as possible as the link would expire after two months. We hope that we assisted you with any queries you had on Divorce. If not, feel free to arrange a consultation with us.

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About the Author

Advocate South Africa

Legal Advisor for Our Lawyer (Pty) Ltd
Call 0211110090
For appointments: https://www.ourlawyer.co.za/advice

47 thoughts on “Divorce Questions, Answers and Free Resources – Get information now.

  1. Hello, I’m curious about the consequences of not signing the divorce papers, especially since we have a daughter together. I’m unsure of the reasons behind my wife’s decision to file for divorce.

  2. I was married to a woman that has since divorced me and has Shipiro on me to try and take me for everything I have. I have a business in my name and a few vehicles and a house that I’m sharing with 2 other owners. I got married to my second wife a few years ago and we haven’t signed any papers yet to say that we are married in or out of community of property. I recently had to take steps to liquidate my business as covid had a strong negative impact on the business and I will not be able to recover from it. I haven’t started the process of liquidation yet as I was advised to get other things in place first. While I’m busy with all of that I’d like to sign a contract with my new wife to say we are married outside of community of property and I want to transfer all my belongings into her name, then I’d like to find out if it is possible to draw up a contract between my new wife and I to say that we both agree that everything actually belongs to me (although it’s on her name) or anything in that line that will legally protect my belongings from my ex-wife, as well as from SARS or any other creditors that might turn up in future. I have been advised by my liquidation lawyer that there is no way SARS or any other creditors can come after my personal belongings but then I still have my ex-wife to worry about. I realise that if my new wife must go to court, she will win the case as everything is in her name, do you have any other suggestions on what might work in a similar way to protect my belongings? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

  3. Hi, I divorced in 2009, and was married in community of property. We jointly owned a property and I am currently occupying the property with our 17 year old son, who is attending high school(GR 12). My ex has since married and has served me with eviction notice via his attorneys in the high court. The reason I’m still occupying the property is that my ex had put in offers to purchase the property in 2009, although I had numerous buyers who were interested in the property. He prolonged the process of buying the property and my lawyer dealing with my divorce in 2009 needed to be paid, although we agreed on payment when the property was sold. This led me to be sequestration in 2013 by my lawyer although I had sent lawyers letters to my ex to give the funds for the property but to no avail.in turn my ex purchased the property and became sole owner and I was left with no monies, no living accomadation and not in the best of health.I am 55 years of age, am currently unemployed and receiving a maintenance from my ex husband, which I never increased for more than 10years, due to myself and my kids occupying the property. I have also paid the exorbitant amount for prepaid electricity and arrears for more than 10years. My ex knowing that I will not be able to afford any attorneys,( legal aid, not an option, as they proved on numerous occasions, to be of no help)has purposely had the case in high court. My kids and myself has been dealt a bad hand by my ex( court orders that he refused to comply with, maintenance orders, protection orders: physical, mental abuse for years) I’ve been to different courts for more than 20years and the justice system has once again failed me and my kids, if there is perhaps a advocate that is willing to help myself and kids to receive justice and be treated fair,and to be heard by the system, it will be immensely appreciated

  4. Hi,my divorce was finalized that the joint estate must be divided but we have both properties that it’s not under our names can we sell them and share equally or we can’t since the properties are still under the names of people that we bought from,i have also used cash to buy the properties can’t prove with my bank statements

  5. Good day… I have applied for a divorce but before the divorce could be finalized i had a liquidation order so that the process could be finazlized quicker, date was 19 August 2019. The process still went on and on and the divorce was finalized on the 25 May 2020. I would like to find out do i need to pay my spouse my pension fund for date of liquidation or date of divorce decree?

  6. Hi
    My husband told me he is divorcing me October month. the same month he took me off the medical aid. He is still living in the rental residence. I am paying rent, food and all expenses for our child. He only gives me R1000 per month. Can I ask him to move out even though the divorce is not final? I cannot support him with food. We both signed the rental agreement. I am trying to live according to my budget seeing that I have to pay my own medical aid. I also want to get a smaller rental that suits my pocket

  7. good day
    my brother and his wife have been living apart for 2years now and the wife moved out of the house along with the things she bought while they were married…my brother is left at his house (not in both their names) with his car…my brother is not working anymore and the wife does not want to file for devorce yet she is living with someone else, they share a son together….what can I do to help my brother

  8. I am married in community of property with a husband that works out of the country that come home every 4months but now he let me know that he doesnt love me anymore & want a divorce, i recently closed my shop because of recession in South Africa & is unemployed..what is my rights,he still have a place to stay, a salary every month & want to put our house in the market..we both been married before with our own set of children but dont have children together, please advice,thank you..

  9. In my divorce settlement, there was an amount stipulated to take care of pets. I agreed to this payment under duress at the time, as I wanted to provide as best as I could for the animals’ welfare during the divorce. The divorce decree was issued four years ago, and my ex still insists on receiving payment to take care of the pets. I do not wish to continue with these payments as I believe that my ex should take sole responsibility for the animals since deciding to keep them. Do I have any recourse to address the matter since I did agree to the settlement terms? Is there a way to dissolve this part of the agreement or seek new terms? The ex has since married so I would like to understand what my rights are in this matter.

    1. Good day
      There are a few issues that need to be considered. The first is whether the maintenance of the pets is seen as maintenance and the second that your spouse remarried. We would advise that you take the issue further with proper legal assistance.

      1. The payment is for the care of pets and not seen as maintenance, and this is a clause in the settlement agreement that forms part of the divorce decree. What needs to be considered in terms of a spouse being remarried? Does this circumstance allow me to terminate these payments without legal reprisal? How can a lawyer help me?

  10. Do I need any other court orders if I have a divorce order with a clause on division of joint property confirmed to be effeceted/implemented (RDp) House in a different jurisdiction/Province of the court the court that issued it? Before consulting a Sherriff to implement the order?

  11. Good day,

    I just realised this year after many nights of research that I married a narcissistic wife. I have many facts to back this view up. She has torn down my self-esteem and we are financially broke in some way. I am self-employed and have lost clients due to depression and lack of focus on my work. She has always been a house-wife, who nevertheless, go out clubbing on a regular basis. Now she is self-employed, doing a network marketing. She has not started making money though. I discovered from her WhatsApp communications that she has been discussing with her friends and family that she would divorce me as soon as she makes enough money and that she should use me as far as possible to get what she wants until she gives me a shock of my life by divorcing me.

    I need to divorce her. My concern is that our standard of living has deteriorated quite significantly. Currently I am still responsible for all family expenses, though, they are at +_R23 000 per month compared to R40 000 a year ago. We are married community of property. Our bond is 80% paid off. I have four children with my wife. My question is: How much could be my children support, spousal support and how much could be her children support since we will be taking 50/50 in all the assets we have.

    1. One need to look at the actual income and expense of the parties, and that for the children to guess an answer. It may be best to consult a lawyer on that issue.

  12. Good day. I got divorced in 1997,my ex husband resigned in 1999 and did not submit the divorce decree to his pension fund. He is a government employee. As you know the I could not claim from his pensionfund that time,before the “clean break” rule was implemented. When I applied in 2012 thats when I found out he resigned from the fund in 1999 and went back in the year 2000.My question to you, how will I be able to get my 50 percent of his pension interest now as per divorce decree.

  13. Good day. I got divorced in 1997,my ex husband resigned in 1999 and did not submit the divorce decree to his pension fund. He is a government employee. As you know the I could not claim from his pensionfund that time,before the “clean break” rule was implemented. When I applied in 2012 thats when I found out he resigned from the fund in 1999 and went back in the year 2012. My question to you, how will I be able to get my 50 percent of his pension interest now as per divorce decree.

  14. ..cont
    He did withdraw the divorce he had filed. I just cannot allow him to take a second wife. if he continues with this relationship he will be cheating. what options do I have

  15. Hi
    I married my husband in Dec 2016 we are young Africans in our early 30s, prio our marriage he had confirmed that he is not a polygamist 4 months into our marriage he said he wants to take a 2nd wife and he had started cheating with her. I went to get divorce forms, he later came back apologised and dismissing the polygamy idea so we continued, in Nov 2017 he filed for divorce over a minor argument, I was served after a family meeting he was sorry and blamed it on overreacting. He has since been diagnosed with bipolar and is on medication, now in 2018 he has brought back the idea of 2nd wife, I want to file for divorce what options do I have, he is wasting my time

  16. My wife’s company served me with a letter that I think is fraudulent. It’s not a divorce letter though. And I replied by stating that I will seek legal assistance asap. I’m away on business in Richardsbay.

    1. Spouse maintenance is not always paid. Usually, the parties agree to spousal maintenance being paid. If not, they must prove they are entitled to it. A party who is work, could still claim. But it is unlikely he or she will success if they earn a lot and can sustain themselves adequately.

  17. Good day, I am asking on behalf of a friend who is currently in the process of filing for divorce.
    The father (my best friend) unfortunately has a job that forces him to travel away from home during the week, thus he is forced to leave his son with his soon to be ex wife. They have already set up a parenting plan (this was done by her and he signed it off) the plan states that neither parent is to get future partners involved in the sons life unless the couple have been stable for a minimum of three months. The partner may be introduced to the child then but staying over is stil forbid until a longer relationship can be built. This is all fair and well, as it is in the best interest of the child. It also states that the father may have visitations with the son every weekend due to the fact that he is not around during the week. Please also note that the divorce is being filled by my friend (husband) due to her being unfaithful, and having an affair with a co worker for nearly a year. It has recently come to light that this woman has now allowed her new partner to move in with her. the boyfriend now sleeps in the same bed as the 2 year old son and the ‘ex’wife. she denies any relations to this man whenever my friend confronts her about it, however there is video proof as well as photographs as evidence that the man is in the boys life on a daily basis all day long. This means that the ‘ex’wife has broken her own parental plan. What can my friend do about this, and how can he go about getting custody of his child, allowing him to live with the grandparents until he finds a job that relieves him of his travel duties?

    1. We advise that you approach the children’s court in your area. They would be able to assist in the matter. The Court would look at what is in the best interests of the child.

    1. If you do nothing, the divorce may go ahead undefended. This means, the Plaintiff will get what he or she asked for in the summons. Otherwise, oppose the divorce and say what you want in your papers.

  18. I am being served with divorce papers.. do i legally need to sign anything on the day of being served

  19. Can you please help with the question of estate division after the dissolution of in community of property marriage; where an RDP government house was the sole property and extended. No kids. The one kid I found was the step daughter who is since an adult and have her own kids. What should happen to the property with regard to divorce decree mentioning equal division of estate?

  20. Good day,
    Wonder if you can assist me in any way. My neighbor is in the process of adopting children, who are siblings. Due to medical and financial reasons they are finding it difficult to keep both. Would I be able to take over the adoption of one child from them? If so, please can you explain the process. As my neighbor says they cannot do that, but that I can just somewhat foster him. I do not wish to do so as I would like to have full custody of him the lawful way. Any assistance/advice would be greatly appreciated.
    Thank you

  21. Hi im married to my husband by islamic marriage, we were married for 18months n then seperated due to him emotionally, mentally and financially abusing me. We share a 1yr old son. He refused to register our marriage, he is now refusing to give me a Talaaq (islamic divorce), islamically only he has the power to issue the divorce. I have asked him 3 times already. Can i go to court and ask for a divorce?

    1. Good day

      You may want to look into the issue of a Faskh. It would be best you speak to your Imam for advice on the issue. The Civil Divorce Courts would not be able to dissolve and Islamic Marriage.

  22. Hi, I just wanna know, what happens if I don’t sign the papers cause we have have a daughter and I don’t know why my wife is filing for a divorce.

    1. Good day

      We do not know what papers you are referring to. But let us presume its a Settlement Agreement. If you do not sign it, then the divorce will proceed defended. You must obtain an attorney to defend it.

  23. Thank you for your prompt reply. I confirmed with my attorney now, we have a date. Many thanks.

  24. Hi, my divorce is taking very long. My lawyer says it just takes so long. What can I do?

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