A lengthy legal battle culminates as the Supreme Court of Appeal denies a woman’s attempt to stay in her matrimonial home during divorce proceedings. A woman’s effort to remain in her matrimonial home, from which she had been evicted, came to an end as she sought legal recourse during ongoing divorce proceedings. Despite her attempts to secure further occupancy, the home had already been sold.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) reviewed her application for reconsideration and upheld the ruling made by the Western Cape High Court. The divorce proceedings of the couple, who were married out of community of property under the accrual system, have yet to conclude, having begun in June 2010. In those proceedings, the wife claimed payment of half the difference in the accruals of her and her estranged husband’s respective estates, as well as lifelong spousal maintenance.
Although he was the sole registered owner, it served as a family home until it was sold in March 2022. The couple’s daughter resides on the property and operates a livery and horse-riding school there, and this business was joined as the second applicant in the current proceedings. After her lawyer was informed of the sale of the property, the wife challenged the validity of the sale, stating that she would not vacate the property due to a substantial claim against her husband.
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The woman claimed that the property was sold at a price substantially below its true value, and the sale constituted a deliberate breach of her fundamental rights to housing, dignity, and access to the court. She also argued that the sale and transfer of the property was unlawful, against public policy, and was null and void. The woman claimed that the property was sold at a price substantially below its true value
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