Know where you stand.
Plain-language help for South Africans going through a divorce, a maintenance claim, a disagreement about children, or a protection order. See your route, what it may cost, and who to see first.
- You are hereYou have decided to separate and want to know what happens now.
- Can you agree on the children, money and property?
Mediation isn't safe if there has been abuse, threats or fear. Get help first.
- Independent: professionals never pay us
- Legal information, not legal advice
- Free to read, no account needed
- No ratings and no paid placements
Where would you like to start?
- We're separating or divorcingUncontested, mediated or contested, and what each involves.
- Money for the childrenHow the maintenance court works and what to bring.
- Arrangements for the childrenCare, contact, parenting plans and the Family Advocate.
- We have a child but aren't marriedCare, contact and maintenance when a child's parents are not married.
Not safe at home? Start with safety, before anything else.
Crisis lines and protection ordersHow it works
Understand your route
Plain-language guides, each checked against the Acts it cites, and broad estimates of cost and time.
Prepare properly
Organise your dates, documents and finances so every professional you see can help you faster, and for less.
See the right professional, in the right order
We plan an independent directory of attorneys, mediators and social workers. No one will be able to pay to be listed.
Guides
All guides- MaintenanceChild maintenance: how the maintenance court worksWhere to go, what happens in what order, how the amount is shared between parents, and what can be done when it is not paid.
- DivorceDivorce in South Africa: the three routes, step by stepWhat happens, in what order, what it usually costs, how the money is worked out, and what most often goes wrong.
- Muslim and customary marriagesEnding a Muslim or customary marriage: what the law now coversHow a Muslim marriage and a customary marriage are ended by a court, what the court can order, and what this guide has not yet been able to check.
- Money and propertyMarried in or out of community of property, and the accrual: what it means on divorceThe three ways of being married, how to tell which is yours, how an accrual claim is worked out line by line, and what each spouse can and cannot do with shared property.
On your side, and no one else's.
Plainly will be paid for by the people who use it, never by professionals. We don't take money from lawyers, mediators or anyone else we list, so what we show you is never for sale.
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