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family and the child’s need to maintain a connection with his or her family,
extended family, culture or tradition.

It is therefore important to note that an order granting a grandparent care or
contact does not take away the parental rights and responsibilities another
person has in respect of the child. For example, a mother does not lose her
parental rights and responsibilities when the court assigns contact or care to
the child’s grandparents, they will then merely be co-holders of parental rights
and responsibilities in respect of the child.
In a recent court case it was stated that “grandparents, more often than not,
play an important part in a child’s social and psychological development
and usually take a keen interest in the upbringing of their grandchildren. The
relationship with their grandchildren often assists and compliments parental
care. There can therefore be little doubt that it is usually in a child’s best interest
to maintain a close relationship with his or her grandparent.”
Should you feel strongly about being more involved with your grandchildren, it
would be our recommendation that you consult with a family specialist to discuss
your situation and how you could gain more access to your grandchildren.

What is your duty to enquire whether a couple
is married in community of property?

May 2018

“My mother and father were married in community of property. They often
joked by saying that they could get out of any contract as long as only one
of them signed because the law required that both of them must always sign.
As a business owner, through the years I’ve always wondered whether this is
correct and how careful a business needs to be when dealing with couples
married in community of property?”

In a marriage in community of property, our South African law determines
that spouses to such a marriage has one joint estate and each party to the
marriage has the right to perform juristic acts with regard to the joint estate as
they are equal managers of the joint estate. This does not however mean that a
spouse can do as he or she pleases when it comes to transactions that involve
the joint estate.
The rights of spouses married in community of property to enter into transactions
relating to their joint estate is governed by Section 15 of the Matrimonial Property Family
Act 88 of 1984 (the “Act”). Although in general, a spouse may perform any
juristic act in respect of the joint estate without the consent of the other, there

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