The Mathilda Wiese case recently made headlines again in our newspapers where there was another decision in favour of her.
In this famous case in the Cape, Mrs. Wiese had divorced a policeman and taken it to court when his pension fund did not want to pay out her share of the pension immediately as is encouraged by our “clean break principle” in our divorce law. The High Court declared the Government Employees Pension Law inconsistent with the Constitution.
It was in July 2011 when Mrs. Wiese achieved this success in her case. It was again in court on 30 March 2012 when the court had to decide on the legal costs aspect. Mrs. Wiese was successful here too. The Minister of Finance was ordered to pay Wiese’s legal costs. These costs would include the legal fees owing by Wiese to her attorney and advocate.
Wiese was no doubt overjoyed with this decision on the costs aspect. According to reports after her divorce she had lost everything, including her home in Malmesbury. She was in desperate need of her share of her ex-husband’s pension.
Legal costs in these matters can run into the hundreds of thousands. Wiese’s legal team had taken on the case in the hope of achieving a costs order. And here they were successful.
The Judge in this case was Justice Bess Nkabinde. This was no doubt the correct decision on the costs aspect, as Wiese had been successful in it being proven that she was owed at least R295 781.00 from her ex-husband’s pension.
Very often in these matters there are “many battles in the war” however. The next “battle” is for Mrs. Wiese to prove exactly how much she is owed. That R295 781.00 referred to above is the amount owed to her at the time of divorce only.
Wiese’s argument is going to be that more is in fact owing to her. She may well succeed with this argument. One must work out the growth on the share due to her up until finalisation of the case. The divorce was some time ago and this case on the pension has taken a long time to reach finality.
It was good to see Mrs. Wise being awarded costs in the meantime. This was correct in the light of the constitution and our rapidly changing pension laws.
Family, Estate & notarial legal services
Info on Divorces & Pension Fund assets
Alongside the house being lived in; holdings in pension funds are often the biggest assets in a divorce.
NB: Under the new 2 pot system law, you must formally notify your spouse's pension fund in writing about the divorce proceedings, along with providing proof. Once this notice is given, the pension fund is legally prohibited from permitting any withdrawals, loans, or guarantees without the consent of the non-member spouse.
Note that this is a public forum which is best treated the same as a public toilet - use at own risk. Anybody may ask and answer, and you don't know what their level of expertise is. No information on this website should be acted on without first consulting with a lawyer. Do not share private details here.
