There is no such thing as legal separation in South Africa, and couples looking for an end to their vows will need to legally apply to end their marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is according to Isabel van den Ende, a senior associate at Barnard, who noted that even if two South Africans have been estranged for 20 years, they are still considered married if they never legally divorced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This includes all the legal consequences that come with it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“As family law attorneys, we often encounter misconceptions about separation and its legal effects,” said Van den Ende.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Many people believe that if they have been apart from their spouse for a long time, their marriage will automatically end. However, this is not the case under South African law.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
South Africa does not recognise legal separation, unlike some other countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even if spouses have been separated for years, they will remain legally married unless one of two things take place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A marriage in South Africa can only be dissolved via divorce proceedings, where one or both spouses file through the courts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the only way to legal way to end a marriage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other option sees one of the spouses passing away, which will see the marriage terminated by law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Divorce can be necessary, as the legal consequences of a marriage remain until a divorce is finalised, even if the spouses no longer live together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These consequences include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This can also be complicated if one cannot locate one’s spouse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In South Africa, a formal notice to a spouse must be delivered to a spouse in person when filing for divorce. This can be done by the spouse or a sheriff of the court. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If they cannot be found, Van den Ende said that one will need a special court order allowing them to serve the summons through an alternative method.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Many people assume that divorces can happen without their spouse knowing, as often seen in television dramas,” the expert added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“However, in reality, South African law requires strict procedures to protect legal rights and ensure fairness.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A divorce cannot be granted without notifying the other spouse, as it directly impacts their legal status, including issues such as property division, spousal maintenance, and parental rights.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the one’s spouse’s whereabouts are unknown, they will need to convince the court that they have exhausted all reasonable efforts to locate them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For this to be achieved, one must: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Substituted service allows service of the summons via publication in a newspaper, email or social media (in certain cases) and delivery to a known relative or last known address. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Edictal citation requires the summons to be served via international courier services, diplomatic channels and publication in foreign newspapers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In both cases, the court must be satisfied that all reasonable attempts to locate the missing spouse have been made,” said Van den Ende.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South Africans who are separated from their partner must make sure that they have followed the correct procedures to get a divorce. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":747972,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[17393],"class_list":["post-811864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-barnard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811864"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":812048,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811864\/revisions\/812048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}