Divorce · Asset Division

Yours, mine, ours. Who gets what on divorce.

How your assets are divided depends entirely on how you were married. Pick your marriage type below, see what the law excludes, list your assets, and get a plain summary you can keep. A provisional estimate to help you understand, not a valuation or legal advice.

Mine: I keep it
Partner's: my partner keeps it
Ours: shared & split

What's excluded from the joint estate → kept by whoever it belongs to

Inheritances, legacies and donations received from a third party where the will or donor stipulated it stays out of the joint estate
Non-patrimonial damages: money awarded to a spouse for pain, suffering, injury or defamation (Matrimonial Property Act s18)
Assets kept separate by a valid stipulation

Everything else you own, whenever and however acquired, falls into the one joint estate and is split equally. Debts are shared too.

List your assets and debts

One line per item: fill in as many as you need. A fresh line appears as you go, you can edit any line in place, and totals update as you type. Mark each as part of the joint estate ("Ours"), or as excluded and kept by one of you. "Mine" means you; "Partner's" means your spouse. Put bonds, loans and cards in as "Ours: joint debt".

Description

Value (R)

Category

Description

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Category

Description

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Description

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Nothing listed yet

Or tap to drop a common item onto the next empty line:

How it splits

Joint assets (Ours)R 0

Less joint debts− R 0

Net joint estateR 0

I keep

R 0

½ of the joint estate (R 0)

My partner keeps

R 0

½ of the joint estate (R 0)

Where does each asset land?

In community of property there is one joint estate, split down the middle. The list below shows what falls into it, what stays out, and why, for your regime. Tap an item to drop it onto your list above.

61 of 61 items · showing the position for: In community of property

Family home registered in one spouse's name

Property & home

Whose name is on the title deed makes no difference. In community of property there is one joint estate and the house is in it.

Ours: shared

Family home registered in both names

Property & home

Already in the joint estate; registration in both names changes nothing about the split.

Ours: shared

Property owned before the marriage

Property & home

In community of property, assets owned before the marriage fall into the joint estate on the day you marry. This surprises people more than any other rule here.

Ours: shared

Holiday home or second property

Property & home

Part of the joint estate.

Ours: shared

Buy-to-let or investment property

Property & home

The property and the rental income are both joint.

Ours: shared

Property inherited during the marriage

Property & home

Excluded only if the will said so, or the testator otherwise stipulated it stays out of the joint estate. Without that stipulation it falls in. Read the will before you assume.

Depends

Agricultural land or a farm

Property & home

Part of the joint estate. Valuation and whether the farm can practically be split are usually the harder questions.

Ours: shared

Bond / home loan outstanding

Property & home

A joint debt. It reduces the joint estate before the halves are worked out, so both spouses effectively carry it.

Debt

Cars, bakkies, motorcycles

Vehicles & contents

Joint, regardless of who drives it or whose name is on the registration papers.

Ours: shared

Vehicle finance outstanding

Vehicles & contents

A joint debt.

Debt

Boat, caravan, trailer

Vehicles & contents

Joint.

Ours: shared

Furniture and household contents

Vehicles & contents

Joint. In practice these are divided by agreement rather than valued item by item, but they do form part of the estate.

Ours: shared

Jewellery and watches

Vehicles & contents

Joint, unless it was an excluded inheritance or a donation stipulated to stay out.

Ours: shared

Engagement and wedding rings

Vehicles & contents

Usually treated as a donation to the recipient and left with them in practice, though strictly they fall into the joint estate. Rarely worth fighting over unless the value is unusual.

Depends

Art, antiques, collectibles

Vehicles & contents

Joint. Get these valued properly: this is a category where estimates are routinely far off.

Ours: shared

Personal clothing and effects

Vehicles & contents

Technically joint, but in practice each spouse keeps their own and no court will entertain an argument about it.

Depends

Bank accounts: current and savings

Money & investments

Joint, whoever's name the account is in and whoever deposited the money.

Ours: shared

Fixed deposits and notice accounts

Money & investments

Joint.

Ours: shared

Shares, unit trusts and ETFs

Money & investments

Joint. Value them at a date the two of you agree, and put that date in writing.

Ours: shared

Tax-free savings account

Money & investments

Joint, despite being in one name: the account cannot be held jointly, but the value falls into the joint estate.

Ours: shared

Cryptocurrency

Money & investments

Joint. The practical difficulty is proving it exists: disclosure obligations apply, and non-disclosure has consequences.

Ours: shared

Krugerrands, bullion, cash at home

Money & investments

Joint. Same disclosure point as crypto.

Ours: shared

Offshore accounts and investments

Money & investments

Joint. Being outside South Africa does not put an asset outside the joint estate. Enforcement is a separate practical problem.

Ours: shared

Pension or provident fund (pension interest)

Retirement & insurance

Section 7(7) of the Divorce Act deems the pension interest part of the member spouse's assets for the divorce. The non-member spouse can be paid directly by the fund under s7(8): the clean-break principle. This must be pleaded and worded correctly or the fund will not pay.

Ours: shared

Retirement annuity (RA)

Retirement & insurance

Pension interest in an RA is included and can be shared on the same basis.

Ours: shared

Preservation fund

Retirement & insurance

Treated as pension interest and shareable.

Ours: shared

Living annuity already in payment

Retirement & insurance

Contested ground. A living annuity is generally not "pension interest" as the Divorce Act defines it, so it may not be shareable in the same way: though the income stream is relevant to maintenance. Get advice on this one specifically.

Depends

Life policy with a surrender value

Retirement & insurance

The cash or surrender value falls into the joint estate.

Ours: shared

Life policy naming a third party as beneficiary

Retirement & insurance

The proceeds go to the nominated beneficiary on death, but the surrender value during the marriage is still an asset. Review your nominations at divorce: people forget, and an ex-spouse can end up inheriting.

Depends

Endowment policy

Retirement & insurance

Value falls into the joint estate.

Ours: shared

Shares in a private company

Business interests

The shares are joint. In community of property this can restrict a spouse's ability to deal with them without consent, which catches business owners off guard.

Ours: shared

Member's interest in a close corporation

Business interests

Joint, on the same basis as company shares.

Ours: shared

Sole proprietorship / business run in your own name

Business interests

There is no separate legal entity, so the business assets are simply your assets, and they are joint.

Ours: shared

Partnership interest

Business interests

Your share of the partnership falls into the joint estate. The partnership agreement may restrict transfer: read it.

Ours: shared

Loan account in a company or trust

Business interests

A loan account owed to you is an asset of the joint estate and is regularly overlooked.

Ours: shared

Goodwill of a professional practice

Business interests

Whether personal goodwill has a separable value is argued case by case. Practice structure matters.

Depends

Surety signed for a business

Business interests

A contingent liability of the joint estate. If it is called up after the divorce it can still reach you: deal with it expressly in the settlement agreement.

Debt

Assets held in a properly run discretionary trust

Trusts

Trust assets are owned by the trust, not by you, and fall outside the estate entirely. A discretionary beneficiary has a hope, not a right.

Excluded

Trust a spouse actually controls as their own

Trusts

Where a trust is run as the alter ego of a spouse: assets dealt with as personal property, formalities ignored: a court may take the trust assets into account (Badenhorst v Badenhorst 2006 (2) SA 255 (SCA)). This is fact-heavy and evidence-driven.

Depends

A vested right in a trust

Trusts

If your right has vested, it is an asset rather than a hope, and it falls in.

Ours: shared

Inheritance received during the marriage

Inheritances & gifts

Falls into the joint estate unless the will or the testator stipulated otherwise. The stipulation is the whole question.

Depends

Donation from a third party (e.g. a parent)

Inheritances & gifts

Same as an inheritance: excluded only where the donor stipulated it.

Depends

Donation between the spouses

Inheritances & gifts

Moving something from one spouse to the other changes nothing: it is all one estate already.

Ours: shared

Something bought to replace an excluded asset

Inheritances & gifts

The replacement generally carries the same excluded character, but keep the paper trail: you will be asked to prove it.

Depends

Damages for pain, suffering, injury or defamation

Inheritances & gifts

Non-patrimonial damages are excluded from the joint estate by s18 of the Matrimonial Property Act and are kept by the injured spouse.

Excluded

Damages for loss of earnings or medical costs

Inheritances & gifts

Patrimonial damages compensate the estate for a financial loss, so they fall into the joint estate. This is the distinction people get wrong.

Ours: shared

Lottery or gambling winnings

Inheritances & gifts

Joint, however unwelcome that is to the winner.

Ours: shared

Salary earned during the marriage

Income & benefits

Income earned by either spouse falls into the joint estate as it is earned.

Ours: shared

Bonus, commission or accrued leave pay

Income & benefits

Joint, including amounts earned but not yet paid at the date of divorce.

Ours: shared

Share options or restricted shares not yet vested

Income & benefits

Whether an unvested option is an asset yet depends on the scheme rules. Get the rules; do not guess.

Depends

SARS refund due

Income & benefits

A debt owed to the joint estate.

Ours: shared

Credit cards and store accounts

Debts

Joint debts, no matter whose card it is or who spent the money.

Debt

Personal loans

Debts

Joint.

Debt

Student loans

Debts

A joint debt if incurred during the marriage, and a joint debt even though only one spouse got the qualification.

Debt

SARS tax debt

Debts

A joint debt of the joint estate. SARS can look to the joint estate.

Debt

Debt one spouse ran up without the other knowing

Debts

Still a joint debt as against the creditor. Whether it is taken into account between the two of you is a different argument, and forfeiture may be raised in a serious case.

Debt

Debts run up after separation but before the divorce

Debts

The joint estate continues until the decree, so these are technically joint. This is a common and bitter dispute: record the separation date and deal with it in the settlement.

Depends

Lobola paid or received

Customary marriage

Not usually treated as a divisible asset. Raise it with us rather than entering a value.

Depends

Livestock

Customary marriage

Joint property of the joint estate.

Ours: shared

Family or homestead property

Customary marriage

Property held for a wider family group may not belong to either spouse personally.

Depends

A second or further customary marriage (polygamous)

Customary marriage

Not applicable to a civil marriage.

Depends

Asset list summary

Marriage type: In community of property · 0 item(s) listed

Add assets in the calculator above to build your summary.

Not advice, a provisional calculator. In community of property: one joint estate split equally, with excluded inheritances/donations and non-patrimonial damages kept by the receiving spouse. This tool is not legal, financial or tax advice. It is a provisional calculator to help you understand how assets are divided, and its result may change subject to your specific circumstances, including forfeiture, redistribution orders, disputed or professionally assessed values, tax, and the terms of any antenuptial contract, will or trust. See the legal sources below, and speak to us before you act on any figure.

Legal sources & authorities

The way this calculator divides assets is dictated by the statutes and Constitutional Court judgments below. This is the general legal framework only: it states what the law says, not how it applies to your particular estate, and it can be overtaken by newer judgments or amendments.

In community of property

Matrimonial Property Act 88 of 1984, s 18(a) non-patrimonial damages (for pain, suffering, bodily injury or defamation) do not fall into the joint estate but remain the injured spouse's separate property.
Common law of universal community of property all assets and debts, whenever and however acquired, merge into one joint estate owned in undivided half-shares and split equally on divorce, subject to statutory and testamentary exclusions.

Out of community: with accrual

Matrimonial Property Act 88 of 1984, ss 2–5 the accrual system: on dissolution the spouse whose estate grew less has a claim for half the difference between the two accruals.
s 4(1)(b)(i)–(iii) non-patrimonial damages left out of account (i); assets excluded in the antenuptial contract left out (ii); commencement value adjusted for the change in the value of money by the CPI (iii).
s 5 inheritances, legacies and donations from third parties, and donations between the spouses, are excluded from the accrual.

Out of community: without accrual (complete separation)

Divorce Act 70 of 1979, s 7(3)–(6) a court may order a redistribution of assets from one spouse to the other where a spouse contributed to the growth of the other's estate and an order would be just.

Case law: redistribution

EB (born S) v ER (born B) and Others; KG v Minister of Home Affairs and Others [2023] ZACC 32; 2024 (2) SA 1 (CC) (10 October 2023).The Constitutional Court held the pre-1 November 1984 cut-off in s 7(3) unconstitutional and read it out, extending the redistribution remedy to spouses married out of community without accrual whatever the date of marriage. The declaration was suspended for 24 months with interim relief giving immediate effect.

Customary marriage

Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998, s 7 proprietary consequences of customary marriages; s 7(6) requires a court-approved contract before a further (polygamous) marriage.
Recognition of Customary Marriages Amendment Act 1 of 2021 amended s 7(1) to give statutory effect to the judgments below (in operation 1 June 2021).

Case law: customary marriage

Gumede v President of the Republic of South Africa [2008] ZACC 23; 2009 (3) SA 152 (CC).A monogamous customary marriage is in community of property, whether entered into before or after the Act, subject to an antenuptial contract.
Ramuhovhi and Others v President of the Republic of South Africa and Others [2017] ZACC 41; 2018 (2) SA 1 (CC).In pre-Act polygamous customary marriages, spouses hold joint and equal ownership, management and control of house and family property.

Related mechanisms (not calculated here)

Forfeiture of patrimonial benefits: Divorce Act 70 of 1979, s 9 a court may order forfeiture where one spouse would otherwise be unduly benefited, weighing the marriage's duration, the breakdown, and any substantial misconduct.
Pension interest: Divorce Act 70 of 1979, s 7(7)–(8) a spouse's pension interest is deemed part of the estate for division and may be paid over by the fund on divorce.
Trust assets Badenhorst v Badenhorst 2006 (2) SA 255 (SCA).Where a trust is a spouse's alter ego, run as personal property, formalities ignored, a court may take its assets into account in the division.
Legislative reform in progress Parliament's curative amendment writing the s 7(3) redistribution reform into the statute (introduced as the General (Family) Laws Amendment Bill) had not yet come into operation when this page was last updated; the Divorce Amendment Act 1 of 2024 (a separate reform) deals with Muslim marriages. Confirm the current commencement position before relying on either.

Where a statutory section or judgment is central to your matter, we verify it against the current consolidated Act and the latest reported judgments before advising. Citations are given so you can read the primary sources yourself.

This is a provisional calculator to help you understand how assets are divided under South African matrimonial property law. It is not a valuation, financial, tax or legal advice, and its result may change subject to your specific circumstances (for example forfeiture of benefits, redistribution orders, disputed values, tax, or the terms of an antenuptial contract, will or trust). Figures depend on the values and categories you enter. lawvero (Pty) Ltd provides document preparation services; reserved legal work is performed by our partner attorneys. Key law: Matrimonial Property Act 88 of 1984 (ss 4, 5, 18); Divorce Act 70 of 1979 (ss 7, 9); Recognition of Customary Marriages Act 120 of 1998 (s 7). Key case law: EB v ER; KG v Minister of Home Affairs [2023] ZACC 32; Gumede 2009 (3) SA 152 (CC); Ramuhovhi [2017] ZACC 41. Full citations appear in the Legal sources & authorities panel above. © lawvero (Pty) Ltd 2026 · law, verified.

Divorce · Asset Division

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1 of 3

Divorce · Asset Division

Yours, mine, ours. Who gets what on divorce.

Asset list summary

Marriage type: In community of property

Add assets in the calculator above to build your summary.

2 of 3

Divorce · Asset Division

Yours, mine, ours. Who gets what on divorce.

How it splits

How it splits
Joint assets (Ours) R 0
Less joint debts − R 0
Net joint estate R 0
I keep R 0
My partner keeps R 0

3 of 3

Divorce · Asset Division

Yours, mine, ours. Who gets what on divorce.

Not advice, a provisional calculator.

In community of property: one joint estate split equally, with excluded inheritances/donations and non-patrimonial damages kept by the receiving spouse. This tool is not legal, financial or tax advice. It is a provisional calculator to help you understand how assets are divided, and its result may change subject to your specific circumstances, including forfeiture, redistribution orders, disputed or professionally assessed values, tax, and the terms of any antenuptial contract, will or trust. See the legal sources below, and speak to us before you act on any figure.