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Matrimonial Property Act, 1984 (Act No. 88 of 1984)

Chapter IV : General Provisions

23. Liability of spouses for household necessaries

 

 

(1) Any right of recourse which a spouse may have against the other spouse in terms of the common law or any law which is in force at the commencement of this Act or which was in force before that commencement, in respect of contributions made for necessaries for the joint household of the spouses, lapses, subject to the provisions of subsections (3) and (4), at that commencement.

 

(2) A spouse married out of community of property before or after the commencement of this Act is liable to contribute to necessaries for the joint household pro rata according to his financial means, and is deemed to have been so liable for the period from the beginning of his marriage until that commencement.

 

(3) A spouse married out of community of property before the commencement of this Act has a right of recourse against the other spouse in so far as he has contributed more in respect of necessaries for the joint household than that for which he was liable in terms of subsection (2).

 

(4) In the absence of any agreement to the contrary between spouses, a spouse does not have a right of recourse against the other spouse to whom he was married out of community of property after the commencement of this Act with regard to any contribution which he made in respect of necessaries for the joint household.

 

(5) Spouses married out of community of property are jointly and severally liable to third parties for all debts incurred by either of them in respect of necessaries for the joint household.

 

(6) Subsection (1) shall not be construed as conferring on a spouse a right to reclaim anything that he has already paid at the commencement of this Act in satisfaction of a right of recourse, and subsection (3) shall not be construed as conferring on a spouse a right to exercise the right of recourse referred to in that subsection in respect of any period with regard to which he has already exercised a right of recourse on any other ground.