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Children born out of wedlock – the rights of the biological father
If you were to ask the average person on the street who they think should make decisions on behalf of a child born out of wedlock, the most likely answer you would receive is the mother. The answer seems self-evident. Certainly a whole range of factors for...
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Divorce is a grim reality but the blow can be softened if you plan ahead
The harsh reality is that many marriages result in divorce and the hardship associated with that can be minimised if the appropriate marriage regime is selected. There are two options available in South African law, namely: marriage in community of property or...
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Leasing of commercial or industrial property and compliance certificates
Compliance certificates are mandatory for any property sale and the rules applied are the same irrespective of the residential or commercial use of the property. However, when leasing commercial property to be used as shops, office space or a factory, fit-outs are...
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Khayelitsha home owners access title deeds for the first time
A free advice centre is helping to facilitate formal residential property transactions in Cape Town’s largest township, Khayelitsha. The Transaction Support Centre (TSC) has engaged with over 300 residents to-date and provides buyers and sellers with critical services...
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Is buying property on auction a good idea?
Auction sales are on the rise in South Africa and have grown by a huge margin of 40% during the course of 2019. However, despite the trend, it would be wise to realise that buying a property on auction does not necessarily mean that you will always be getting a good...
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Discovering defects before taking property transfer
What happens when a buyer takes occupation of a property prior to transfer and then discovers defects that he didn’t know about? He then claims that the seller did not disclose these defects prior to the sale and demands a reduction in the purchase price. The seller...
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The Voetstoots clause and what it means for property buyers and sellers
A well-known term that every buyer and seller of immovable property may have encountered is that of the voetstoots clause. The term originates from Dutch and translates directly to ‘with the shove of a foot’. What the term in effect means is that the product, in this...
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What Compliance Certificates do I need when selling my house?
Often when we attend to property transfers we find that home owners are caught unawares of the compliance certificates that are required when selling a house and are subsequently shocked by the associated costs which they did not budget for. A question frequently...
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Arbitration: cheaper, better, faster?
Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution, which along with mediation and conciliation, offers an alternative to court procedures. The parties essentially agree to have a dispute submitted to an independent arbitrator(s) who will make a binding decision...
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Grandparents and child maintenance – is there a duty?
This obligation to support and maintain a child is a shared one between parents and arises out of the common law duty to support apropos or relative to one’s respective means. The obligation was legislatively incorporated into Section 13(3)(a) of the Maintenance Act...
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