Fans of power couple Zakes Bantwini and Nandi Madida were taken aback when news broke of them dissolving their marriage.
Bantwini was quick to point out that the couple are not splitting but instead dissolving their “in community of property” marriage contract.
Four years into the marriage, Bantwini revealed that he and Madida had entered into a wrong marriage contract. Now the couple is asking the court to help them amend the terms of their marriage contract.
Bantwini wants their marriage to be converted from “in community of property” to “out of community of property”.
In terms of South African law, if you do not properly execute an antenuptial contract prior to marriage you are by default married in community of property.
While chatting to IOL Lifestyle in a previous story on tips for a money-sound marriage, Franklin Templeton’s Jo-Anne Bailey advised couples to research an antenuptial agreement. The agreement is a written contract entered into by a couple prior to marriage that enables them to control their legal rights.
For celeb couples like Bantwini and Madida a prenup is a good idea. If celebrities are doing it, then it should be the route to take?
Bailey begs to differ, saying “It depends. If one partner comes into the marriage with millions, and the other with nothing, then a prenup is there as a protective mechanism.”
She explained that from a legal point of view, she would only advocate for one where there is an extreme imbalance of financial being.
But she does recommend an antenuptial agreement. This agreement is specific and out of community of property. “If you bring in assets, you can protect them and list them as excluded from community of property.”
Although by law you are not allowed execute an antenuptial contract after marriage, the good news is that it is possible to change your matrimonial property regime from in community of property to out of community of property by registration of a Postnuptial Contract by virtue of s 21(1) of the Matrimonial Property Act with the permission of the High Court.