Property is a good investment to have in the long term and most people only acquire property once they are married as it is financially easier to afford property and it is seen as a start to new life together. Couples are never faced with the thought of a divorce until an event occurs that causes couples to split.

The termination of a marriage in community of property causes the dissolution of the community of property in the joint estate that existed between the spouses during the existence of their marriage. This dissolution of the community of property awards the parties each their separate estates. This means that such a dissolution of the estate will affect immovable property that formed part of the joint estate which the parties acquired together.

The effects of a divorce on Marriages out of community of property with the accrual is that both spouses to the marriage gain a fair share of the estate once the marriage is dissolved

Property owned by either spouse prior to the marriages, can remain the property of the Original Owner, if married out of community of property where an ante-nuptial contract has been recorded and registered in the Deeds office, most things acquired after te wedding of Marriages in Community of Property and before separation are often subject to division upon the divorce.  

Section 45bis (1)(a) of the Deeds Registries Act, provides for the endorsement of deeds where the immovable property is held by the joint estate. 

The provisions of Sec 45 bis (1) (a) of the Deeds Registries Act should be applied. An application by the party to whom the property was allocated in terms of the provisions of the deed of settlement should bring the application to have his/her former spouse half share transferred to the Applicant in order to obtain sole ownership of the property. The documents to lodged with the application is the Decree of Divorce and the settlement agreement, as order by the court. The application is brought to update the Deeds office records and reflect the correct position of the Applicant in the Title Deed.

Whichever party who initiated the divorce, who is a ½ share owner of the property either alienates his/her half share to his/her former spouse or he/she requires that their former spouse alienates their half share by signing a deed of settlement which is annexed to the court order granted by the Judge/ Magistrate.

Subsequent to the divorce of the parties, one of the former spouses, alienates her/his half share to the other spouse.  The title deed of the property still reflects that the parties are married in community of property to each other, as registered owner, however on the last page of the Title deed the Deed will be Endorsed to reflect that the half share of one of the spouses have been transferred to the spouse in whose favour the  divorce order was made and in whose favour the application was brought. Parties acquire sole ownership of the property after the divorce order has been granted along with the deed of settlement agreement and the endorsing of the Title deed.