When the parents of a child involved in the dissolution of marriage the position is altered and a reassignment of parental responsibilities and rights or at least some of their incidents, is inevitable. In addition to the High Courts inherent powers as the upper guardian of all minors within its area of jurisdiction, statutory protection is given to minor and dependent children of the marriage in divorce proceeding by the Divorce Act and the Mediation in Certain Divorce Matters Act. The Recognition of Customary Marriages Act has extended the whole of the latter Act and section 6 and 10 of the former to divorce proceedings involving customary marriages.
Before the decree of divorce may be granted the court must be satisfied that the provisions made or contemplated with regard to the welfare of any minor or dependent child of the marriage are satisfactory or are the best that can be effected in the circumstances
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Divorce is only an option for couples who were lawfully married and the divorce procedure is outlined elsewhere. The divorce process can be simple and a divorce settlement agreement is filed in the divorce court.
Cohabitation is quite different. Cohabitation is a stable monogamous relationship where a couple who do no wish to, or are not allowed to, get married, live together as spouses. This definition includes people of the same sex living together in a stable, exclusive relationship. Sometimes this definition is limited to couples of the opposite sex living together. Cohabitation is also referred to as living together, shacking-up, de facto marriage, quasi-marriage, common-law marriage, domestic partnership or private marriage.
The only distinguishing feature of living together is the fact that the couple is not legally married to each other. The term does not include non-sexual relationships.
Flowing from the fact that there are various legal requirements for a valid marriage, the absence of any one or more of these requirements will affect the validity of the marriage. The effect can be to render the marriage voidable or void. In the former case a marriage comes into existence but the marriage can, as a result of the non-compliance with a requirement, be set aside by the court. In the latter case there is in fact no marriage since the facts are insufficient to constitute a valid marriage.
Many people including some attorneys don’t understand the position surrounding the engagement. The engagement is merely an agreement between a man and a woman who are both free to marry each other that they will marry each other at some time in the future.
This there must be a proper agreement, capacity to enter into an agreement and where assistance is required in law, that the necessary consent has been given and that the parties are competent to marry each other and finally that any suspensive condition attached to the agreement has been fulfilled.
It is not necessary for the parties to fix a time for the marriage.
An engagement is binding on both parties.
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Divorce Lawyers are specialists and can be very costly as they are skilled in getting you the best settlement possible. If this is beyond your financial reach then there is the option of the Law Clinic.
The voluntary sector is being encouraged to play an ever more important role in providing services to the consumer. There are several organisations which have geared up to to give expert advice and assistance under the Legal Aid scheme for which they will be paid.
They provide excellent quality service for those who cannot afford a lawyer or seek specialist advice in specific areas.
Visit our website if you want advice in this area.
