quicksand wrote:If you fully owned the house you and your wife now live in before you got married, and she made no contribution to its payment, is there a legal recourse in law that protects you from being kicked to the kerb in case you divorce?
The thought of going from one who owns a home to a homeless guy makes one shudder. Most people can only afford one house a life time!!!!!!
The Constitution provides that parties to marriage are entitled to equal rights at the time of the marriage, during the marriage and at the dissolution of the marriage.
This does not mean that the parties are entitled to 50% or any percentage just by virtue of their marriage. It could mean that they have an equal right to acquire and deal with property. There were days (long gone I think) when a woman had to get her husband’s consent in order to transact in property matters. It may not have been in the law but banks would require a husband to “o.k” the transaction, even when he was not paying or making contributions towards the mortgage. In many cases, the property would have to be registered in joint names.
The constitutional provision simply tells us that this should no longer be the case. Both husband and wife have equal rights to acquire property. Independently. Each party must show their contribution towards the acquisition of that property.
However, you will only know the real position after someone’s wife goes to court to ask for an “equal” share of a house and the shirt. So let’s wait for the courts – they’ve been producing very whacky opinions on cases touching on the new constitution.