In a recent judgment delivered by the High Court in Pretoria during April 2021, rights were afforded to parents to bury or cremate a foetus that is younger than 26 weeks old. Prior to this case, no burial rights were afforded to foetus’s younger than 26 weeks. In this case, the court ruled that amendments needed to be made to the Birth and Deaths Registration Act to allow for such burials. Although the Constitutional Court still needs to endorse the ruling, the ruling has been widely welcomed by the general public.

Domestic violence is perpetrated between men and women on a daily basis, however, an average of 7 South African women are murdered by a partner or immediate family member daily.

Once a couple is engaged, they start the wedding planning – which is quite a task. But as part of this planning how much effort does the couple allocate to considering and planning for the legal consequences of their marriage, and the affect that the marriage will have on financial planning and position later in life?

Imagine being trapped in your own home with your abuser. With no escape, and the only way out being a permit allowing you to do so. Terrifying thought, isn’t it? The thing is, for most women in South Africa, this has been their reality since the presidency imposed a nation-wide lockdown in a bid to stop the rapid spread of coronavirus, known as COVID-19.

Being a law firm that often works with families, children and schools, we are always shocked to see how early on in life children in South Africa are exposed to pornography. According to recent statistics, it has been found that the average age of exposure by children to hardcore pornography in South Africa is 10!

We see the best and worst of people in this profession and as a good psychologist friend of mine always says, “you don’t know someone until you divorce them”. Whilst I would like to think this isn’t always true, I believe the point being made is that if you ever want to test someone’s bad side, serve them with divorce papers.

A will is a legal document, executed by a person who is 16 years or older, that sets out their final wishes pertaining to, amongst other things, the distribution of their assets upon their death.

Recently there has been an increase in confirmed and unconfirmed child kidnapping and child disappearance cases. You only need to scroll down your Facebook feed, media apps and other social media platforms and you are almost guaranteed to see a post about a search for a missing child.

According to a study conducted by the Medical Research Council and Centre for Public Mental Health, on average, a woman dies every 8 hours at the hands of her partner. However, despite public outcry, social movements, various laws and Government strategies in place, violence against women at the hands of their partners persists.

Whilst it is clear that where only one parent holds full parental rights and responsibilities in respect of a child, that parent may consent to the child’s medical treatment without the consent of any other party, there has been some uncertainty as to the position regarding medical consent for a child’s medical treatment when both parents co-hold parental rights and responsibilities.

What you need to know and do if you’re heading for the divorce courts