Use the above tool to find the best family lawyer near you in Cape Town. Select a location near you using the dropdown menu and the tool will show you who we currently consider to be the top family attorney in that area. As always carry out your own due diligence; being listed here does not constitute an endorsement or mean that the person doesn't make mistakes. If you cannot find an family attorney in your preferred area; please let us know so that we may improve the search tool. Email lawyer@capetownlawyer.co.za.
Death in the middle of a divorce
It happens from time to time that one spouse passes away during the course of a divorce case. This may be as a result of ill-health or suicide or other forms of unnatural causes of death. Due to the huge pressure a spouse experiences in a divorce matter, he or she is not always able to deal with the stress.
I have in all honesty encountered a few situations where people in a divorce case have committed suicide. In one of my cases I was acting on behalf of the female, and we served a divorce summons on her husband. She did advise me when she came to consult me that her husband was unstable and suffered from depression. She furthermore believed that he was having an affair, and one day she followed him to a hotel and saw him entering the hotel with his lover. She confronted both of them at the hotel, and there was an argument.
In the abovementioned case my client advised me after the summons had been served on her husband that he was aggressive and had been threatening her with a gun. Just a few days after my telephonic conversation with her she phoned me and advised me that her husband had committed suicide. This was most unfortunate.
In another one of my cases a client, also a female, instructed me to serve a summons on her husband. After I had drafted the summons, and just before it was to be served, she also phoned me and said that her husband had committed suicide. She instructed me not to proceed with the divorce.
In the abovementioned cases the deceased spouse’s assets would go to his or her heirs in terms of his or her Will, if he or she has drafted a will, and properly signed and had it properly witnessed. If the deceased spouse was married in community of property to the surviving spouse then the half share of the joint estate would go to the deceased spouse’s heirs. In the abovementioned two cases the parties were married in community of property.
Another case which made headline news in the Cape Town High Court at one point was that involving Mr. Stuart Ireland, a perfume tycoon and owner of Prestige Cosmetics – the then sole South African distributor of luxury fragrance brands including Dior, Chanel, and Jean Paul Gaultier. Ireland died of a brain haemorrhage at a girlfriend’s house during the course of his divorce trial.
In the abovementioned case, a few days prior to Ireland’s death the Cape High Court had granted him ownership of 24 of the 125 movable assets which were in dispute in the trial. Some of these items were a model airplane and a chess set. The dog Jack had been awarded to his wife, much to his dismay. The value of Prestige Cosmetics was over R70 million.
The court found in the abovementioned case that after Ireland’s creditors were paid, the remaining money in the deceased-estate would be divided as per the agreement that Ireland and his wife had signed after getting married, and between beneficiaries of his Will.
Divorce is a very emotional procedure and deaths in divorce do sometimes occur. It is important to have a medical check-up if you feel that your health is suffering during the divorce, or to seek counselling to deal with the stress of the divorce.
Family, Estate & notarial legal services
Deceased Estate Information
If a relative has died, perhaps without a will, and you are unsure of what do:
- Report deceased estate to the Master online
- Steps to take when your parent dies without a will.
- Lawyers in Cape Town specialising in deceased estates.
- Administrators in Cape Town for deceased estates .
- Letter of executorship requirements in South Africa.
- J192 form - next-of-kin (if no will)
- Nomination to act as executor (if no will)
- J190 form assistance
- Administration of deceased estates in South Africa.
- Property transfer cost in a deceased estate.
- Inheritance and child maintenance obligations.
- Intestate Succession Act
- Tracking deceased estates
- Death of a spouse before divorce if finalised
Wills
- How to write a will.
- Example of a last will and testament.
- Get your will drafted for free (by a lawyer).
- List of lawyers that draft wills in Cape Town.
- Consider updating your will when these events occur:
- when divorcing; to avoid your ex-spouse possibly inheriting everything.
- death of somebody mentioned in your will,
- the birth of a child you may want to include in your will,
- marriages
Connect with a Deceased Estate Expert today
Deceased Estate discussion forum
Note that this is a public forum - exercise caution before acting on info and use at own risk. Anybody may ask and answer, and you don't know what their level of expertise is. No information on this website should be acted on without first consulting with a lawyer to test its validity. Do not share private details here.