Who owns what in a marriage in South Africa?

Unless there is an antenuptial contract, a civil marriage is in community of property, which merges both spouses' assets and debts, whenever acquired, into one joint estate.

The joint estate is divided equally. Where there was an antenuptial contract with accrual, the growth of each estate is shared; where it excluded accrual, each keeps their own.

An antenuptial contract is signed before the marriage as a notarial deed and registered. It can exclude community of property, with or without an accrual system.

In a marriage in community, gifts and inheritances may be excluded if the giver or testator says so.

South Africa has its own rules on which law applies to the property of foreign spouses, so ask about the domicile of the spouses.

• Debts of either spouse can affect the joint estate in a marriage in community of property.

South Africa belongs to the Mixed: civil and common law family. Family law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.

Read the South Africa legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Can a foreigner buy property in South Africa? →

• South African Department of Justice and Constitutional Development