2023 SEMESTER 2 ASSIGNMENT 2 ANSWERS - Family Law (PVL2601)

Question 1 Mr and Mrs Brown entered into a civil marriage without an antenuptial contract. At the time of entering into the marriage Mrs Brown was unaware of the fact that Mr Brown was already a party to another civil marriage in community of property. Mrs Brown found out about the other civil marriage after the death of Mr Brown. a) What type of marriage is Mr and Mrs Brown’s marriage? (1) b) Mrs Brown approaches you for advice. As her attorney, advise her what the patrimonial consequences of her marriage are. In your advice, you must discuss the conflicting case law on the issue. (9) [10] Question 2 Mr and Mrs Mopeli were married out of community of property with application of the accrual system in 2015. Mr Mopeli is a surgeon in a private medical practice. Mrs Mopeli is a lawyer, but she left her legal practice when she married Mr Mopeli and has, ever since, maintained the household and looked after the spouses’ children. Mr Mopeli works long hours. To pass the time between procedures he has started gambling online and has developed a gambling addiction. To hide his gambling from Mrs Mopeli, Mr Mopeli has incurred large gambling debts. He has started selling his assets without consulting Mrs Mopeli to pay for his gambling debts. Mrs Mopeli has no assets of her own. When Mrs Mopeli discovers that assets are disappearing from the matrimonial home she confronts Mr Mopeli. Mr Mopeli tells Mrs Mopeli that it is none of her business what he does with his own assets. Advise Mrs Mopeli whether Mr Mopeli is correct and that there is nothing she can do to prevent him from selling his own assets, as alleged by Mr Mopeli, or whether there are any statutory steps she can take to protect her interests. Fully explain and substantiate your answer.