Matrimonial Property Act, 1984 (Act No. 88 of 1984)Chapter I : Accrual System6. Proof of commencement value of estate |
| (1) | Where a party to an intended marriage does not for the purpose of proof of the net value of his estate at the commencement of his marriage declare that value in the antenuptial contract concerned, he may for such purpose declare that value before the marriage is entered into or within six months thereafter in a statement, which shall be signed by the other party, and cause the statement to be attested by a notary and filed with the copy of the antenuptial contract of the parties in the protocol of the notary before whom the antenuptial contract was executed. |
| (2) | A notary attesting such a statement shall furnish the parties with a certified copy thereof on which he shall certify that the original is kept in his protocol together with the copy of the antenuptial contract of the parties or, if he is not the notary before whom the antenuptial contract was executed, he shall send the original statement by registered post to the notary in whose protocol the antenuptial contract is kept, or to the custodian of his protocol, as the case may be, and the last-mentioned notary or that custodian shall keep the original statement together with the copy of the antenuptial contract of the parties in his protocol. |
| (3) | An antenuptial contract contemplated in subsection (1) or a certified copy thereof, or a statement signed and attested in terms of subsection (1) or a certified copy thereof contemplated in subsection (2), serves as prima facie proof of the net value of the estate of the spouse concerned at the commencement of his marriage. |
| (4) | The net value of the estate of a spouse at the commencement of his marriage is deemed to be nil if— |
| (a) | the liabilities of that spouse exceed his assets at such commencement; |
| (b) | that value was not declared in his antenuptial contract or in a statement in terms of subsection (1) and the contrary is not proved. |