Article: Thando Pato from True Love
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However, she advises women especially to choose a regime that will benefit them if there is a change in circumstances – for example if the woman decides to stop working and be a stay-at-home mom – because once you've married under a particular regime it is expensive and almost impossible to switch to another one.

"The law says that you must determine your matrimonial regime before you get married," explains Ellis. "However, in certain very exceptional cases you can make an application to the High Court to change your matrimonial regime but it is an extremely expensive procedure.

An antenuptial contract (ANC) can cost you anything from R1000 to R1 500 to draw up. It's a very short and easy document and it costs R250 to register at the deeds office. But to change your marriage regime can cost you anything from R30 000 to R100 000.

The court is also going to want pretty specific reasons why you want to change it. It is not an easy thing to do and the courts only grant it in exceptional situations."

Your options are...
Under current South African family law legislation there are three matrimonial regimes you can enter into. These include marriage in community of property; marriage out of community of property; and marriage out of community of property including the application of the accrual system.

Marriage in community of property, says Ellis, is when there is no antenuptial contract and all assets and liabilities, whether acquired before or during the marriage by either of you, become a joint estate and each of you owns half. "You are together in assets and in debt. Many people don't take that into consideration when they enter into this matrimonial regime. If your husband is blacklisted, half of his debt is automatically yours and that is a very scary thing."

But being married in community of property is not necessarily a bad thing because it allows assets to be communal and for partners to rely on each other during tough times.

The second matrimonial regime couples can enter into is marriage out of community of property and this, says Ceri von Ludwig, a family lawyer specialising in divorce for Bowman Gilfillan Attorneys, is done by drawing up an ANC, which will stipulate that each party maintains completely separate estates.

"Each party has and retains absolute independence and is liable for his or her own debt. There is no provision for sharing," she explains.

Ellis says according to the law this means: "If your husband, for example, buys you a car but registers it in his name, when you divorce it will belong to him – regardless of whether you were paying the instalments or how long you were driving the car."

One of the advantages of this matrimonial regime is that neither party is liable for the other's debt as is the case when you are married in community of property.

Of the three marriage regimes, Von Ludwig and Ellis agree that marrying out of community of property but with the inclusion of the accrual system is perhaps the most practical for people who want to protect their assets.

Like a marriage out of community of property, you and your husband will maintain separate estates, says Von Ludwig, but the accrual is the growth of the estates since the marriage.