Matrimonial Property Act, 1984/1986-09-10

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as amended by

Matrimonial Property Amendment Act, No. 91 of 1986

 21. (1) A husband and wife, whether married before or after the commencement of this Act, may jointly apply to a court for leave to change the matrimonial property system, including the marital power, which applies to their marriage, and the court may, if satisfied that—

there are sound reasons for the proposed change;

sufficient notice of the proposed change has been given to all the creditors of the spouses; and

no other person will be prejudiced by the proposed change,

order that such matrimonial property system shall no longer apply to their marriage and authorize them to enter into a notarial contract by which their future matrimonial property system is regulated on such conditions as the court may think ﬁt.

(2) (a) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any law or the common law contained, but subject to the provisions of paragraphs (b) and (c), the spouses to a marriage out of community of property entered into before the commencement of this Act in terms of an antenuptial contract by which community of property and community of proﬁt and loss are excluded, may cause the provisions of Chapter I to apply in respect of their marriage by the execution and registration in a registry within two years after that commencement or such longer period, but not less than six months, determined by the Minister by notice in the Gazette, of a notarial contract to that effect;

(b) The provisions of Chapter I apply in such a case from the date of the conclusion of the marriage of the spouses or from the date of the execution of the notarial contract concerned, as the spouses may declare in that contract.

(c) For the purpose of proof of the net value of the respective estates of the spouses on the date on which the provisions of Chapter I so apply, they may declare that value either in the notarial contract concerned or in a statement as contemplated in section 6, and in the last-mentioned case the provisions of the said section 6 apply mutatis mutandis in respect of that statement.

(d) For the purposes of section 4 (1) the commencement of the marriage concerned is deemed to be the date contemplated in paragraph (b).

(e) The inclusion of an asset in a statement contemplated in section 6 does not serve as proof of any right of any person with regard to that asset or for the purpose of any release contemplated in section 21 (1) of the Insolvency Act, 1936 (Act No. 24 of 1936).

 25. (1) The provisions of Chapters II and III of this Act do not apply to marriages in respect of which the matrimonial property system is governed by section 22 of the Black Administration Act, 1927 (Act No. 38 of 1927).

(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any law or the common law contained, the spouses to a marriage, other than a marriage contemplated in subsection (1), entered into before the commencement of this Act may—

if they are married in community of property, cause the provisions of Chapters II and III to apply to their marriage;

if they are married out of community of property and the marital power of the husband was not excluded in terms of the antenuptial contract concerned, cause the provisions of Chapter II to apply to their marriage,

by the execution and the registration in a registry within two years after the said commencement or such longer period, but not less than six months, determined by the Minister by notice in the Gazette, of a notarial contract to that effect, and in such a case those provisions apply from the date on which the contract concerned was so registered.

