Maintenance in SA
A THORNY ISSUE Advice from expert Gillian Solomon
Maintenance in South Africa is a thorny issue, and many women struggle in maintenance court monthly to try and redress the balance of being sole providers for their children. The law says that children have rights, and that a child has the right to the financial and emotional support of BOTH parents until its 18 years or independent, which ever comes first. This means that no matter if the parents were married or single they have to support the child, and this debt of care is what maintenance is about.
That means that single parent fathers who have not married still are required to fulfill this debt of care to their children and , its not support or money for the Mum its for the child. This doesn't, at the moment, give single Dads any other rights at all, like access. All single parent dads have a right to do is pay for the child's needs. Educationally, for food, petrol, clothes, school fees and uniforms as well as medical costs. There is a way of assessing what this amount should be, and that's to take a pro rata share of the costs, and divide them between both parents. So for instance if Dad lives in a house with two children and pays rent, two thirds of the rest is for the children. Of course married Dads have rights as they were legally in a contract with the mum. So in separation and divorce dad pays maintenance. Of course Mums are eligible to pay too.
There are a lot of mistaken ideas about rights and obligations. Payment of maintenance doesn't entitle one to access, and one can't deny parents access to children because of unpaid or too little maintenance. In fact a woman was jailed in Johannesburg for persistently denying her husband access. Also there is no precedent for spousal maintenance in South Africa, we legalized polygamy and who ya gonna pay? However the courts do look favorably on women who have been married for forty years and have been housewives then the court reserves the right to allocate maintenance.
A good settlement is very important and pensions and the family home often make up the majority of the assets in divorce.
But no folks we don't do alimony here like they do on Boston Legal...
