Marais Muller Hendricks Inc

Divorce Diaries: Anti-Dissipation Orders in Action When you’re going through a divorce it’s common to suspect your ex is selling off assets on the sly or concealing them from you outright. The paranoia is justified: you could leave the marriage with a lot less than your fair share. A recent SCA (Supreme Court of Appeal) battle over an ex-husband's decision to sell his property without telling his ex-wife raises further concerns. Why did his ex-wife's “anti-dissipation interdict” fail, and what can you do to avoid the same fate? Read more: https://buff.ly/4ftCnL2

It’s Sick Leave Season – Can You Reject a Dodgy Doctor’s Sick Note? The last thing employers and employees want is for sick colleagues to drag themselves to work. There’s nothing more off-putting than sharing an office with a coughing and spluttering coworker. But, on the other hand, what can you as an employer do if you suspect staff of malingering? When can you insist on a medical certificate? And can you reject it if you think it’s falsified? A recent Labour Appeal Court decision over an employer’s decision to reject sick notes from a “dodgy doctor” addresses those questions. Read more: https://buff.ly/3YlG9jH

Happy National Women’s Day 9 August 2024

The Garage Door That Had the Complex Up in Arms Homeowners Associations (HOAs) and Bodies Corporate take note! A recent High Court decision confirms that you cannot enforce your rules and regulations inconsistently. At stake in this case was an HOA’s instruction to a homeowner to remove his “mirror finish” garage door, which contravened one of the estate’s architectural rules. But, as some damning photographs of other mirrored doors proved, the HOA had seemingly not enforced that rule consistently… Read more: https://buff.ly/4c5ViZM

Legal Speak Made Easy. “Rouwkoop” Mostly found in property sale agreements, a “rouwkoop” (literally, “regret-purchase”) clause sets out how much a party who wants to pull out of the agreement without breaching it agrees to pay the other for the privilege. The concept is sometimes confused with that of a “forfeiture of deposit” or “penalty” clause which applies only if the sale agreement is breached. The distinction is subtle but if you see the word “rouwkoop” in an agreement, be on your guard. Whilst only penalties that are proportional to the loss suffered are allowed by our law, you could inadvertently be agreeing to something you will regret later on. Read more: https://buff.ly/3RO6mDr

Can You Sign An Affidavit Over Zoom? We’ve all grumbled at having to go and find a commissioner of oaths in a police station or bank just to attest an affidavit, and in these days of online meetings and electronic signature and storage of documents, it seems positively archaic that we can’t do everything remotely. But, as the relevant Regulations are currently worded, face-to-face physical commissioning seems to remain the only guaranteed way of ensuring that your affidavit will be accepted in court. We’ll discuss why that is with reference to three recent High Court decisions with different facts and differing outcomes. Read more: https://buff.ly/4cn9dLT

Celebrating Nelson Mandela Day 18 July 2024

Home Buyer Loses R5.5m in Phishing Scam – Don’t Make The Same Mistake! It’s an exciting time, buying a property. But don’t let your guard down – cybercriminals love the lucrative pickings on offer from property transactions, and they never sleep! We’ll discuss the recent Supreme Court of Appeal case of a widow who, in trying to pay over the purchase price of a house, lost her R5.5m when her email system was hacked and she fell victim to a textbook email scam. Why did the SCA rule against her? How should she have protected herself? We’ll address those questions and share 5 steps you should take immediately to avoid falling into the same trap. Read more: https://buff.ly/4cplRdb

Contracting with Trusts – Is a Majority Resolution Valid? Many of us will either be involved in trusts as trustees or will contract with them as outsiders at one time or another – often in the context of a property transaction. Beware! As a recent Supreme Court of Appeal decision starkly reminds us, trusts are strange creatures, and you need to tread carefully in dealing with them. We’ll look at questions of whether trustees must always act jointly and unanimously or whether it is enough for a majority of them to sign resolutions and documents. Our punchline is a strong warning note on what to look for when contracting with any trust. Read more: https://buff.ly/3KITwm9