Few interlocutory judgments manage to say something useful about both civil procedure and substantive family law in the same breath. The recent decision of Greig AJ in the Western Cape Division does exactly that. On its face, it is an
The Western Cape Division has once again demonstrated that it will not tolerate maintenance debtors who treat interim maintenance orders as optional, negotiable or subject to their own private assessment of what is “reasonable”. In M.D.V v F.M.D.V (2025/091265) [2026]
The Facts: A Consent Paper and a Tsunami of Post-Divorce LitigationThe judgment of Wille J in R.J.S and Others v L.A.S (A228/2025) [2026] ZAWCHC 377 (27 July 2026) arises from a divorce granted on 19 May 2019, when the parties’
The factual background and the parties’ competing claimsIn H.L v B.L (2025/216979) [2026] ZAWCHC 350 (13 July 2026), the Western Cape High Court was required to determine an application for interim maintenance and a contribution towards legal costs under Rule
In N.P. v Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and Others (2468/2024) [2026] ZAWCHC 343 (23 June 2026), the Western Cape High Court declared the common law rule of lex domicilii matrimonii unconstitutional and invalid, and developed the common law
D.W v J.L.K (12604/2015) [2026] ZAWCHC 322 (17 June 2026)
The facts: a maintenance debtor who paid for luxuries before his children
The applicant and respondent divorced in 2015. In terms of a settlement agreement made an order of court,
This judgment is a useful working illustration of how our courts now approach return applications under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, incorporated into our law as Schedule 2 to the Children’s Act 38 of
The Facts: A Car, a Parking Lot, and a Protection Order
The parties in IKM v GRM (A2025-156276) [2026] ZAGPJHC 461 (7 May 2026), decided by Wilson J (with whom Wentzel J agreed) in the Gauteng Division, Johannesburg, were a
A recent judgment of the Western Cape Division, N.C.M.W v P.S.K and Others (2025/218300) [2026] ZAWCHC 272 (29 May 2026), is a useful teaching case. On its face it is a routine eviction, but it draws together three distinct threads
M.I.B (born H[…]) v D.B (2023-079189) [2026] ZAGPPHC 411 (2 May 2026)
This judgment of Smit AJ in the Gauteng Division, Pretoria, is a useful working example of how a court structures an award of rehabilitative maintenance in a long
