Judgment from the Johannesburg High Court which deals with an application in terms of section 20 of the Matrimonial Property Act (“MPA”) for the immediate division of a joint estate in a foreign marriage. The applicant and respondent were married in 2002 in Bucharest, Romania. The applicant applied for the immediate division of the joint estate in terms of section 20 of the MPA, and the respondent opposed the application on the basis that there was no joint estate as the parties’ proprietary rights were governed by either Turkish or Romanian law.
The court found that the underlying principle of lex domicilii matrimonii must apply. The MPA forms part of South African law and does not apply to foreign marriages, unless expressly provided for by way of antenuptial contract. This is because South African law was not the lex causae of these foreign marriages.
The application for immediate division was dismissed with costs.