Work out your deadlines

Three different clocks, and they do not all start on the day of the decree. Fill in the dates you have. Leave the rest blank until they happen.

Trigger 1

Date the decree was granted

New will needed by
Wills Act s2B protects you for three months only. After that the old will revives and your ex inherits under it.
-enter the decree date

Trigger 2

Date you delivered the order to the retirement fund

Not the decree date. Leave blank if you haven't sent it yet.

Fund must ask you how to be paid by
45 days from delivery. If nothing arrives, chase the fund in writing.
-enter the delivery date
Your election is due by
120 days from delivery. Miss it and the fund must simply pay you cash within 30 days after, which can cost you tax you did not need to pay.
-enter the delivery date

Trigger 3

Date you made your election

Cash, or transfer to another fund

Fund must pay or transfer by
60 days from your election. Interest is payable after that.
-enter your election date

1 of 5

After the decree · South Africa

The decree is not the end. It's the start of the admin.

First, before you do anything else

Week 1

These two are the ones people put off and regret. Both carry real, dated consequences.

Redo your will (3-month deadline)Section 2B of the Wills Act 7 of 1953 treats your ex-spouse as having died before you, but only if you die within three months of the decree. On day 91 the old will springs back to life and your ex inherits exactly as written. This is the single most consequential thing on this list and it costs the least to fix.Where: Master of the High Court: justice.gov.za · Document: A new will (no prescribed form). Two competent witnesses, 14+, who inherit nothing.Also: if you named your ex as executor or as guardian of the children, change that too. s2B does not fix it after three months.
Submit the decree to the retirement fund (Clocks start)If the order awards you part of your ex's pension interest, nothing happens until you send the order to the fund. Then: the fund has 45 days to ask how you want to be paid, you have 120 days to elect, and the fund has 60 days to pay or transfer. Miss your 120 days and the fund must simply pay you cash within 30 days after that, which may cost you tax you did not need to pay.Where: The fund named in your order. Disputes: Pension Funds Adjudicator: pfa.org.za · Document: The fund's own divorce claim form + certified decree, settlement agreement, ID, proof of bank account or receiving fund detailsWatch for: if the order does not name the fund, or does not track ss7(7) and 7(8) of the Divorce Act and s37D of the Pension Funds Act, the fund is entitled to refuse. That has to be fixed by amending the order. Tell us immediately if the fund pushes back.

2 of 5

After the decree · South Africa

The decree is not the end. It's the start of the admin.

Your identity and your name

Weeks 1–4

Only if you are changing your surname. If you are keeping it, skip to the next phase. There is nothing to do.

Notify Home Affairs of your surname (If changing)If you are going back to a surname you held before, your maiden name or an earlier married name, you do not need to apply for anything. Section 26(1)(b) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act lets you simply resume it. Write to Home Affairs with the decree so the population register is updated. Only if you want a surname you have never held do you need the BI-196 application, with Director-General approval and publication in the Government Gazette. Budget three to nine months for that route.Where: Department of Home Affairs: dha.gov.za · Document: Reverting: written notification + certified decree. New surname: Form BI-196 / DHA-196
Re-issue your Smart ID and passport (If changing)Once the register reflects the new surname, apply for the replacement documents. Do the ID first, the passport application checks against it. Do not book travel until the passport is in hand.Where: Home Affairs, or eHomeAffairs online: dha.gov.za · Document: Form DHA-9 / BI-9 (identity document) · Form DHA-73 (passport)
Driver's licence and vehicle records (If changing)Update your particulars at a licensing authority, and transfer any vehicle the settlement gives to one of you. A vehicle still registered in a joint or former name creates problems with fines, insurance claims and resale.Where: NaTIS: natis.gov.za · bookings at online.natis.gov.za · Document: Change of particulars and change of ownership forms, download from the NaTIS forms page. Confirm the current form codes there; they are renumbered periodically.

3 of 5

After the decree · South Africa

The decree is not the end. It's the start of the admin.

Money, property and tax

Month 1–3

The expensive category. Anything left in joint names keeps both of you exposed long after the decree.

Change every beneficiary nomination (Often missed)Life policies, retirement annuities, pension fund death benefits, group life at work, endowments. A divorce order does not change a beneficiary nomination. Ex-spouses inherit large sums through forgotten nomination forms every year, and the decree is no answer to it.Where: Each insurer and fund directly. Fund disputes: Pension Funds Adjudicator: pfa.org.za · Document: Each provider's beneficiary nomination formNote: for approved retirement funds the trustees still apply s37C of the Pension Funds Act and may pay dependants regardless of your nomination, but nominate correctly anyway.
Transfer or endorse the property (If property)Where the settlement gives the house to one of you, the Deeds Office record must follow. Section 45bis of the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937 allows an endorsement rather than a full transfer in divorce cases, which is markedly cheaper. A conveyancer must lodge it at the Deeds Office.Where: Deeds Registration: deeds.gov.za · gov.za guide · Document: Lodged by your conveyancer: s45bis application, decree, settlement agreement, original title deed, rates clearanceGood news: a transfer between spouses on divorce is exempt from transfer duty under s9(1)(i) of the Transfer Duty Act, and the capital gain rolls over under paragraph 67 of the Eighth Schedule to the Income Tax Act. You are not taxed on the split itself.
Deal with the bond (If bonded)If you are both on the bond, the decree does not release either of you. The bank must formally substitute the debtor, and it will re-assess affordability on the remaining spouse alone. Start this early, a refusal changes what the settlement can realistically achieve.Where: Your bond holder directly No department involved. Deal directly with the provider. · Document: Substitution of debtor application + decree, settlement agreement, proof of income
Separate the bankingClose joint accounts, cancel joint credit and store cards, remove each other as authorised users, cancel debit orders that belong to the other household, and change online banking beneficiaries and passwords.Where: Your bank No department involved. Deal directly with the provider. · Document: Bank's account closure / amendment forms + decree
Update SARSChange your marital status, surname, address and banking details. It matters more than people expect, it affects your assessment, and a stale bank detail is the most common cause of a refund not arriving.Where: SARS: sars.gov.za · eFiling · Document: RAV01 (Registration, Amendments and Verification) on eFiling
Medical aid, short-term insurance and utilitiesSplit the medical aid membership and confirm who the children's dependant cover sits with. Re-do household and vehicle insurance in single names, an insurer can decline a claim where the insured interest has changed. Move municipal, electricity, water and fibre accounts to whoever stays.Where: Each scheme, insurer and your municipality No department involved. Deal directly with the provider. · Document: Each provider's change of membership / policyholder form + decree
Tell your employerPayroll, tax details, group life and pension fund nomination, medical aid subsidy, and next of kin. Employer group life is one of the most commonly forgotten nominations of all.Where: Your HR department No department involved. Deal directly with the provider. · Document: Employer's change of details and beneficiary nomination forms

4 of 5

After the decree · South Africa

The decree is not the end. It's the start of the admin.

If there are children

Ongoing

These only apply where minor children are involved, but where they do apply they are the ones that come back.

Lodge the parenting plan properly (If children)A parenting plan is worth far more as an order of court than as an agreement in a drawer. Where it was made an order in the divorce, keep certified copies for the school and for travel. Where it was not, it can be registered with the Family Advocate or made an order later.Where: Office of the Family Advocate: justice.gov.za · Document: Parenting plan + Family Advocate lodgement forms (Children's Act 38 of 2005, ss 33–34)
Set up maintenance collection (If maintenance)Do not rely on a monthly EFT that depends on goodwill. Where maintenance is ordered, it can be collected through the maintenance court, and an emoluments attachment order against the payer's salary is available where payments fall behind.Where: Maintenance courts: justice.gov.za online services · Document: Maintenance Act 99 of 1998 forms, obtained at the maintenance court
Update school, medical and travel records (If children)Give the school a certified copy of the order so both parents' rights of contact are on record and collection arrangements are clear. Update the medical aid, and keep certified copies for international travel, border officials ask for proof of guardianship and consent.Where: The school, your medical scheme, and Home Affairs for travel requirements · Document: Certified decree and parenting plan · parental consent affidavit for travel

5 of 5

After the decree · South Africa

The decree is not the end. It's the start of the admin.

Once the dust settles

Month 3–6

Not urgent, but the people who skip this phase are the ones who have a second problem two years later.

Redo your estate plan properlyThe new will in step 1 was triage. Now do it properly: your estate has changed shape, your executor nomination may be wrong, any trust you set up during the marriage needs its trustees and beneficiaries reviewed, and your antenuptial contract no longer governs anything. If you remarry, all of this changes again.Where: lawvero, or your own attorney. Wills and estates: Master of the High Court · Document: Will, trust deed amendments, updated nominations

General information, not advice. This checklist sets out the usual steps after a South African divorce. Your order may require more or fewer of them. Form numbers, fees and departmental turnaround times change, always confirm on the department's own site before you travel to an office, and download forms only from the official domains linked above. Key law: Divorce Act 70 of 1979 (ss 7(3), 7(7), 7(8)) · Pension Funds Act 24 of 1956 (s 37D) · Wills Act 7 of 1953 (s 2B) · Births and Deaths Registration Act 51 of 1992 (s 26) · Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937 (s 45bis) · Transfer Duty Act 40 of 1949 (s 9(1)(i)) · Children's Act 38 of 2005 · Maintenance Act 99 of 1998. lawvero (Pty) Ltd provides document preparation services and does not provide legal advice. Current as at July 2026.

The decree is not the end. It's the start of the admin.

Work out your deadlines

First, before you do anything else

Your identity and your name

Money, property and tax

If there are children

Once the dust settles

We can do most of this list for you.