A divorce in South Africa can leave you broke. Picture: African News Agency (ANA) Archives
IT CAN be easy or it can be a long-winded, never-ending saga, say experts on divorce in South Africa.
But one thing for sure is a divorce won’t be cheap – in South Africa it can cost anything from R800 if uncontested to hundreds of thousands of rand if contested.
In the light of all the cheaters out there and the very public outing on Monday as Sonia Booth took to social media to spill the tea on her husband Matthew and the cheesecake he baked for his alleged mistress as well as Elton Jantjies admitting to cheating on his wife, we thought it appropriate to look at divorce costs in detail.
Incidentally adultery is one of the legally acceptable reasons for ending a marriage in South Africa.
Other reasons, according to expatica.com include:
– Abuse.
– You haven’t lived together for a long time/one partner has left the other.
– The couple no longer love each other.
– One partner has been institutionalised for mental illness for at least two years without sign of recovery.
An uncontested divorce can cost anything between R800 and R20,000, say divorcelaws.co.za
The cost, they say, mostly depends on the complexity of the divorce settlement agreement and the complexity surrounding the care and contact of any minor children.
A divorce that is uncontested can be quick and cheap if both parties agree to the divorce and reach a settlement on child care and financial issues.
It will mean both parties will work with the same attorney to get to an agreement which will then go to the court.
If your divorce is uncontested, your attorney will most likely charge a fixed fee for the work done and you’ll be probably asked to pay a retainer or deposit.
In a contested divorce, the costs depend on the time spent on it and is heavily dependent on how both parties conduct themselves.
Divorcelaws.co.za say it can cost hundreds of thousands of rand in fees and disbursements.
Most family law attorneys charge by the hour and they can ask anything from R500 to R3,000 per hour depending on the experience they have.
Often the attorney is paid a retainer, and this is paid into the attorney’s trust account and they withdraw it as the fees are earned. In other words, attorneys pay themselves with money from their trust account.
You as the client will get a monthly invoice itemising the time the attorney has spent on your case, listing expenses that have been incurred on your behalf, and giving full details of fees debited, how much was spent and how much of the retainer is left in the trust account.
As the case progresses, the attorney will probably ask for more upfront payments.
Other services to pay for, says divorcelaws.co.za, in a contested divorce include other experts the attorneys may engage with such as forensic accountants, to examine the couple’s assets; industrial psychologists, to determine a spouse’s employability for maintenance purposes; actuaries, to determine the quantum and duration of maintenance contributions or child support; private investigators, to gather information and dig up damaging evidence; and child-care experts, to assess who the children should live with.
Often, a year or two after serving the summons, the attorneys and advocates on both sides will start to talk settlement. “As the trial date approaches, the intensity of the settlement negotiations increases. In 90% of all divorce cases, a settlement agreement is usually reached before or on the day of trial.”
So you decide, is baking that cheesecake really worth it?
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