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

Chapter IV : General Provisions

29. Substitution of section 17 of Act 47 of 1937, as amended by section 1 of Act 15 of 1953, section 8 of Act 43 of 1957, section 8 of Act 43 of 1962 and section 5 of Act 3 of 1972

 

 

The following section is hereby substituted for section 17 of the Deeds Registries Act, 1937:

 

“17.       Registration of immovable property in name of married persons

 

(1) From the commencement of the Matrimonial Property Act, 1984, immovable property, real rights in immovable property and notarial deeds which would upon transfer, cession or registration thereof form part of a joint estate shall be registered in the name of the husband and the wife, excluding agricultural land as defined in the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act, 1970 (Act No. 70 of 1970), unless that transfer, cession or registration takes place only in the name of a partnership, and the husband or wife is involved therein only in the capacity of partner in that partnership.

 

(2) Every deed executed or attested by a registrar, or attested by a notary public and required to be registered in a deeds registry, and made by or on behalf of or in favour of any person, shall —
(a) state the full name and marital status of the person concerned;
(b) where the marriage concerned is governed by the law in force in the Republic or any part thereof, state whether the marriage was contracted in or out of community of property;
(c) where the person concerned is married in community of property, state the full name of his spouse; and
(d) where the marriage concerned is governed by the law of any other country, state that the marriage is governed by the law of that country.

 

(3) Where a marriage in community of property has been dissolved by the death of one of the spouses before property which on transport or cession thereof would have formed part of the joint estate could be transferred or ceded, that property shall be transferred or ceded to the joint estate of the spouses, pending the administration thereof, and is, subject to the provisions of any disposition with regard to that property, deemed to be the joint property of the surviving spouse and of the estate of the deceased spouse.

 

(4) If immovable property forming part of a joint estate is registered in a deeds registry in the name of either the husband or the wife, the registrar shall on the written application of the husband or the wife, as the case may be, if he is satisfied as to the relevant facts, make a note on the title deed of that property, or if the title deed can for any reason not be produced to him, only on the registry duplicate thereof, and in the appropriate registers, to the effect that it is property in respect of which the provisions of section 15 (2) (a) of the Matrimonial Property Act, 1984, apply.

 

(5) The registration of a right to a mineral in the name of a husband and a wife according to the provisions of subsection (1) shall not be construed as constituting the division of any right to any mineral or minerals in respect of any land between that husband and wife into undivided shares, or an increase in the number of holders of undivided shares in any right to any mineral or minerals in respect of any land as contemplated in section 2 of the Mineral Laws Supplementary Act, 1975 (Act No. 10 of 1975).

 

(6) A woman married out of community of property shall be assisted by her husband in executing any deed or other document required or permitted to be registered in any deeds registry or required or permitted to be produced in connection with any such deed or document, unless the marital power has been excluded or unless the assistance of the husband is in terms of this Act or on other grounds deemed by the registrar to be unnecessary.”.