In N.P. v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others (2468/2024) [2026] ZAWCHC 343 (23 June 2026), the Western Cape High Court declared the common law rule of lex domicilii matrimonii unconstitutional and invalid, and developed the common law to replace it with a gender-neutral, multi-factor test. The judgment of Golden AJ closes a
D.W v J.L.K (12604/2015) [2026] ZAWCHC 322 (17 June 2026)
The facts: a maintenance debtor who paid for luxuries before his children
The applicant and respondent divorced in 2015. In terms of a settlement agreement made an order of court, the respondent undertook to pay cash maintenance of R10 000 per month per child for
This judgment is a useful working illustration of how our courts now approach return applications under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, incorporated into our law as Schedule 2 to the Children’s Act 38 of 2005 through Chapter 17. Cloete J ordered the return of a four-year-old boy to Australia,
The Facts: A Car, a Parking Lot, and a Protection Order
The parties in IKM v GRM (A2025-156276) [2026] ZAGPJHC 461 (7 May 2026), decided by Wilson J (with whom Wentzel J agreed) in the Gauteng Division, Johannesburg, were a divorced couple whose matrimonial property regime had itself been the subject of dispute in the
A recent judgment of the Western Cape Division, N.C.M.W v P.S.K and Others (2025/218300) [2026] ZAWCHC 272 (29 May 2026), is a useful teaching case. On its face it is a routine eviction, but it draws together three distinct threads that practitioners meet constantly: the joinder of a spouse where property forms part of a
M.I.B (born H[…]) v D.B (2023-079189) [2026] ZAGPPHC 411 (2 May 2026)
This judgment of Smit AJ in the Gauteng Division, Pretoria, is a useful working example of how a court structures an award of rehabilitative maintenance in a long marriage, and of the evidentiary discipline it expects from a spouse who claims to be
The Facts: A Relocation, an Expert Report, and a Jurisdictional Challenge
The applicant, HMM, and the respondent, DM, were in a relationship for seven years and lived together for much of that time. DM contended that the parties were married at customary law, but HMM denied this. Their son, O, was born in 2021. DM
The facts: a brief nikah, a premature birth and a R154 118 claim
In Y.M v S.P (Appeal) (A146/2025) [2026] ZAWCHC 164 (13 April 2026), the Western Cape High Court (Pangarker J and Higgins AJ) was called upon to untangle the financial fallout of a marriage that lasted only twelve months. The parties, both Muslim
The Facts: A Child Removed from the Father’s Care, an Urgent Return Order, and the Contempt Sequel
In M.N v J.E and Another (2025/221659) [2026] ZAWCHC 189 (20 April 2026), Pangarker J delivered an ex tempore judgment that must be understood against the background of an earlier urgent application between the same parties. The judgment
The Facts: Divorce, Sequestration and a Web of Trusts and Companies
The matter of M.A.V. NO and Others v E.V (Case No. 8692/2020) [2026] ZAWCHC 167 (14 April 2026) concerns an application for security for costs arising out of protracted divorce proceedings in the Western Cape Division of the High Court. The parties are married