{"id":7087,"date":"2024-04-08T08:19:53","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T08:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertyprofessional.co.za\/?p=7087"},"modified":"2024-04-08T08:22:03","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T08:22:03","slug":"legalities-and-emotions-when-your-clients-are-selling-due-to-divorce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertyprofessional.co.za\/2024\/04\/08\/legalities-and-emotions-when-your-clients-are-selling-due-to-divorce\/","title":{"rendered":"Legalities and emotions when your clients are selling due to divorce"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
MAIN IMAGE: Professor Gertie Pretorius<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Senior writer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dealing with clients going through a divorce can involve many unexpected twists and turns, from both a legal and emotional perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It can be a minefield for property practitioners to navigate as they will have no idea of the triggers that may escalate into major disputes between divorcing or divorced couples, and this is regardless of whose name is on the Title Deed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One legal aspect that may not be immediately apparent is the potential involvement of two divorce attorneys in the property sale. Attorneys John Smith & Associates<\/a>, litigation attorneys and MDW Cape Town Inc<\/a> – Conveyancers, explain that the process is typically straightforward when the spouses are using the same divorce attorney to draft a settlement that includes an agreement on the property sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The waters can, however, get quite murky if the parties are married in community of property where the property is registered in both parties\u2019 names or if they are married out of community of property with the inclusion of the accrual system and the estate of the party in whose name the property is registered has shown a greater accrual than the estate of the other party. This gives the other party a claim in terms of the Matrimonial Property Act<\/a>, read with the Divorce Act<\/a>, against the party in whose name the property is registered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While it may seem logical for the agent to be directed by the party whose name is on the Title Deed, if the other party believes that the owner is attempting to dispose of the property at a price significantly below market value, which could prejudice their claim, they have the right to obtain one or more valuations of the property. These valuations are then submitted to the respective attorney. If the Deed holder does sell at a price that is significantly below the market value indicated by these valuations, the other party is entitled to approach the Court on an urgent basis to interdict the owner from selling or otherwise disposing of the property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the property Deed is in both parties’ names, and they are in conflict about the property sale, the agent cannot fulfil the sale’s mandate. Mediation may seem to be the best recommendation, but this is not legally binding. Instead, the agent should request that the dispute be resolved via the attorneys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The two legal companies\u2014John Smith and MDW\u2014agree that most divorce actions are acrimonious. It is usually only when the parties start paying their legal bills that sanity starts to prevail, and compromises are made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the meantime the emotional charges that both parties may demonstrate can become heightened if the property is a reluctant sale as part of the divorce agreement, or a necessary evil in advancing the divvying up immovable property. It is likely that the individuals will not have the same outlook on their separate futures and, ultimately, the goals they wish to achieve once the property is settled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether this is made clear to the agent at the start of a property sale negotiation or if it is only revealed during the interactions, it will become clear that each party has their own perception of how they reached the point of divorce. This can become very uncomfortable if those details are revealed to the agent in an attempt to garner sympathy or support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With little to no soft training around navigating emotional conflict, an agent may feel very conflicted but must never lose sight of reaching at least, an agreeable selling price and commission structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe property dispute<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Navigating emotions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n