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Appeal Court settles debate on when you can claim arrear maintenance

13 April 2022

A friend of yours has been divorced for a few years now. Her ex was supposed to pay maintenance, but... it wasn’t long before he started paying less and less and then eventually stopped. Your friend was just too fearful of conflict to do anything about it and continued to raise her kids by herself. Now however, money is tight and she is wondering if there is anything she can do to get her ex to pay the maintenance he should have paid?

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185
Article
Can adopted children benefit from a family trust?

14 June 2021

Sometime before his death, my father established a family trust which contained properties that were rented out to generate income... for my mother. In accordance with the trust deed however, once my mother dies, the income from the properties would go to the children of my mother and father. I have an adopted brother and 2 biological sisters. There is now a debate as to whether my adopted brother also qualifies to benefit from the family trust. What is the legal position?

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215
Article
Can an email qualify as a last will?

14 June 2021

My aunt recently passed away suddenly due to Covid-19. In the hunt for her will, it transpired that she had... sent an email to her attorney in which she had asked for amendments to be made to her will and for some of the beneficiaries to be removed. The attorney confirmed that he had not had opportunity to draft a new will before my aunt passed. Can her email be seen as her valid last wishes?

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147
Article
When do maintenance obligations prescribe?

20 May 2021

My ex-husband has for some time now not paid his maintenance as per the court order. Because I had a... job and was earning a basic income, I just left it as I didn’t want the hassle of trying to get him to pay. Now I’ve been retrenched and have asked him to pay his outstanding maintenance, but he refuses and says his attorney told him that his obligation to pay has prescribed. Surely this can’t be right?

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188
Article

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