Deeds Registries Act, 1937 (Act No. 47 of 1937)Chapter II : RegistrationGeneral Provisions17. Registration of immovable property in name of married persons |
| (1) | From the commencement of the Deeds Registries Amendment Act, 1987, immovable property, real rights in immovable property and notarial bonds which would upon transfer, cession or registration thereof form part of a joint estate shall be registered in the name of the husband and the wife, unless that transfer, cession or registration takes place only in the name of a partnership, and the husband or wife is involved therein only in the capacity of partner in that partnership. |
[Section 17(1) substituted by section 1 of Act No. 75 of 1987]
| (2) | Every deed executed or attested by a registrar, or attested by a notary public and required to be registered in a deeds registry, and made by or on behalf of or in favour of any person, shall— |
| (a) | state the full name and marital status of the person concerned; |
| (b) | where the marriage concerned is governed by the law in force in the Republic or any part thereof, state whether the marriage was contracted in or out of community of property or whether the matrimonial property system is governed by customary law in terms of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 1998; |
[Section 17(2)(b) substituted by section 12 of Act No. 120 of 1998]
| (c) | where the person concerned is married in community of property, state the full name of his spouse; and |
| (d) | where the marriage concerned is governed by the law of any other country, state that the marriage is governed by the law of that country. |
| (3) | Where a marriage in community of property has been dissolved by the death of one of the spouses before property which on transfer or cession thereof would have formed part of the joint estate could be transferred or ceded, that property shall be transferred or ceded to the joint estate of the spouses, pending the administration thereof, and is, subject to the provisions of any disposition with regard to that property, deemed to be the joint property of the surviving spouse and of the estate of the deceased spouse. |
[Section 17(3) substituted by section 9 of Act No. 14 of 1993]
| (4) | Where immovable property, a real right in immovable property, a bond or a notarial bond— |
| (a) | is registered in the name of a person who has married since the registration took place; |
| (b) | is registered in the name of a person who on the date of the registration was married out of community of property or whose marriage was on that date governed by the law of another country, and whose marriage was subsequently dissolved by death or divorce; |
| (c) | forms an asset in a joint estate and was registered in the name of the husband only; or |
| (d) | is registered in the name of a person who on the date of the registration was a party to a marriage governed by the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 1998 (Act No. 120 of 1998), |
the registrar shall on the written application by the person concerned and on the submission of the deed in question and of proof of the relevant facts, endorse the change in status or make a note to the effect that the said person is a party to a marriage in community of property, as the case may be: Provided that where there are two or more mutually dependent deeds, all such deeds must be submitted for endorsement: Provided further that in the case of an order of court envisaged in section 7(9) of the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 1998 (Act No. 120 of 1998), the registrar shall, on submission of the relevant deed and court order and without the necessity for a written application, make the endorsement or note.
[Section 17(4) substituted by section 1 of Act No. 9 of 2003]
| (5) | A transfer, cession or registration referred to in subsection (1) in the name of a husband and wife, shall not be deemed— |
| (a) | in a case where agricultural land referred to in section 3 of the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act, 1970 (Act No. 70 of 1970), is concerned, to constitute an act to which a provision of the said section 3 is applicable; and |
| (b) | [Section 17(5)(b) repealed by section 53 of Act No. 24 of 2003] |
[Section 17(5) substituted by section 1 of Act No. 75 of 1987]
| (6) | A person married in terms of a marriage the legal consequences of which are governed by the law of any other country, shall be assisted by his or her spouse in executing any deed or other document required or permitted to be registered in any deeds registry or required or permitted to be produced in connection with any such deed or document, unless the assistance of the spouse is in terms of this Act or on other grounds deemed by the registrar to be unnecessary. |
[Section 17(6) substituted by section 1 of Act No. 132 of 1993]
[Section 17 substituted by section 29 of Act No. 88 of 1984]