It is not unusual for people to live together, have children, buy properties and run a business together without formalising their relationship, either through marriage or civil partnerships. persfinza
According to Elmien Pols of Private Client Trust, the fiduciary division of Private Client Holdings, many people incorrectly believe that such relationships automatically lead to the formation of common law spouses.
Pols advises that the financial security and protection offered by marriage or civil partnerships does not apply to unformalised “life partnerships” and says that the mutual duty of support and division of assets as applied by marriage do not exist, in South Africa, unless formally contracted in some shape or form.
“When a person dies without a valid Will, the Law of Intestate Succession will prescribe how the person’s assets will be left to their next-of-kin. In the normal scheme of things, a spouse and children will inherit. However, in terms of domestic partnerships, children will stand to inherit should a parent die without a valid Will, but the surviving partner will not qualify to inherit at all.”
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