Divorce Decrees
So your divorce has now been finalised and you want to begin living the rest of your life. We applaud you – divorce proceedings are not always “a walk in the park” and dealing with the after affects can be troublesome (to say the least).
But it is a new dawn and a new day in your life and we hope that regardless of the situation surrounding your divorce, you will celebrate your new start.
Now, you may find yourself meeting someone new, wanting to get remarried or perhaps you just want to travel abroad. Maybe even emigrate. Whatever – there are so many opportunities and possibilities open to you now. But suddenly words like a divorce decree have come up – what is it? We hear you!
The actual divorce is one thing but having to deal with all the additional paper work is another. But don’t fret, we are here for you! We are specialists in the field of Notarial Work and are therefore able to assist you with legalising and notarising divorce decrees - at no trouble at all.
The basics first
If you were married in South Africa or registered your marriage in South Africa, you would have been recorded as married on the Department of Home Affairs database. As such you would have been eligible to obtain an unabridged marriage certificate.
Upon getting divorced, your divorce would have to be registered on the Home Affairs database as well (it is a change in your status and needs to be recorded). This should have been done at your nearest Department of Home Affairs branch or alternatively at any South African embassy, mission or consulate if you are abroad.
What is a divorce decree?
A divorce decree is basically a summary of your divorce settlement and will set out all information relating to what was decided by the court during your divorce proceedings such as spousal maintenance, child support, custody, visitation, property division, division of the joint estate (if applicable) and all other important information. It serves as proof that your divorce was finalised in a South African High Court, and is signed and stamped by the court where the divorce was finalised.
If you are asked to produce a divorce decree, it usually means that the front page of the decree (stamped and signed by the High Court in which the decree was issued) is needed. In some cases, the divorce decree and full settlement are required. Meaning the whole document that you and your ex-spouse signed (and legally agreed upon).
When will a divorce decree be required?
You will usually require your original divorce decree for immigration purposes, alimony, inheritance, pension fund distribution, marriage after divorce and updating your marital status on the population register.
In the situation where you are applying for a pension fund distribution, spousal maintenance or minor support agreements, you will also (generally) be required to produce a settlement agreement along with your divorce decree.
How to apply for a divorce decree
Final divorce decrees filed in South Africa cannot be requested from the Department of Home Affairs. A divorce decree can only be obtained directly from the Court where the divorce was filed.
To do so, you will need to supply the court with certain information, such as -
Your divorce case number;
The name of the court where your divorce was finalised;
Date (day, month and year) of the divorce, and
Names and ID numbers of the plaintiff and defendant.
If you don’t have the above, you will (at the very least) require your divorce case number and the court where it was finalised.
A tip – if you are reading this and are in possession of an old scanned copy of the divorce decree (or order) that contains all the above information, scan your copy or take a picture with your phone and save it onto your computer/laptop right this very moment. Go and do it! It may just prove worthwhile and save you a lot of time and money should you require it in the future. Better safe than sorry ey?
Once you have the divorce decree, some countries or authorities need an original and others may need it to be apostilled (see below).
Must a divorce decree be authenticated?
Authentication of a formal document, like a divorce decree, means to legalise it and is specifically required for use abroad.
Legalising a document means that official (public) documents executed within South Africa for use outside of South Africa (for example when emigrating and requiring a VISA, obtaining a foreign passport, applying for citizenship applications, marrying a foreign national and during adoption procedures), are affixed, sealed and signed either with an Apostille Certificate (if the destination country is a signatory country of the Hague Convention) thereby authenticating the origin of a public document, or with a Certificate of Authentication (if the destination country is not a signatory of the Hague Convention).
This process is done by sending it to the Legalisation Section of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (“DIRCO”) in order to get it affixed with an Apostille seal or a Certificate of Authentication (as per the above).
We are able to assist you with the process of legalising your divorce decree. So feel free to get in touch!
Must a divorce decree be notarised?
You would need to notarise a divorce decree should you require copies of it (especially for authentication or legalisation purposes).
And you would need copies of it only if your documents are going to be used abroad (as per the above). And for this purpose, they can only be notarised before a Notary. The Notary attaches a completed and signed notarial certificate to the front of the copy of the original document, and affixes a seal next to their signature thereby verifying that it is a true copy of the original.
How long is the notarised divorce decree valid for?
Simply put, it all depends on the authority requesting the notarised document.
What happens if I lose the divorce decree?
You apply for a new one to the Court of final order (as set out above).
You may need to enlist the services of lawyers or a document location service to assist you. This may be a time consuming and costly procedure. If time is of the essence, ensure you provide the professional or service assisting you with all the pertinent information you have.
Why should we trust Benaters to notarise your divorce decree?
At Benaters we pride ourselves on the fact that we are able to offer a specialised niche service, always remembering that due to the ethical nature of the services which Notaries render (and the specialist knowledge required to draft and/or legalise certain documents), the office of a Notary is considered to be held to a higher standard of care. And we take that extremely seriously (and therefore hold ourselves to very high standards).
We are proud to offer this specialised service to you! So contact us today to see how we may best assist you.