Related Post

Confirming a father’s Parental Responsibilities and Rights to his Child

advice-child-maintenance-child-custody-divorceIn the past, the terms Custody and Access was used in relation to the rights of parents to children. Now the terms Care and Contact are used. The term visitation may also be mentioned as well. According to the Children’s Act of 2005, both parents have full parental responsibilities and rights in relation to a child. There are however certain exceptions.  If there is a dispute regarding that, then the father may have to make an application to the High Court confirming his responsibilities and rights and enforcing them. This can turn out to be a costly affair. You may do it yourself.  If, however, a father has to take that route, it is strongly suggested that he gets hold of an attorney. – Adv. Muhammad Abduroaf LL.B LL. M – Advocate of the High Court of South Africa.

The Court Application

A Notice of Motion should be drafted. This notice is supported with a Founding Affidavit. Sometimes confirmatory affidavits are attached as well. The documents would further be filed with the Office of the Family Advocate. Once the Application is served on the mother, she would then have an opportunity to file her opposing papers (if any). The father will then have an opportunity to reply. Once a date is provided by the Registrar of the Court, the matter would be argued before a Judge who would make a decision with or without a Family Advocate’s Report. Urgent applications can also be made, but here an experienced attorney and advocate are required as time is of the essence.

What the father would basically be asking for is the following:

An Order directing that the parties (mother and father) are co-holders of parental responsibilities and rights in respect of the minor child, in terms of the Children’s Act, 38 of 2005 (“the Children’s Act”) as follows:
  • the parties are co-holders of guardianship over the minor child as provided in Section 18(2(c); 18(3); 18(4) and 18(5) of the Children’s Act;
  • the parties shall be co-holders of parental responsibilities and rights of care and contact in respect of the minor child as referred to in Section 18(2)(a) and (b) of the Children’s Act; and
  • How such rights of care and contact shall be implemented.
The Court will hear the matter and make a decision. If all goes well, the Court would grant the Order confirming the father’s parental responsibilities and rights.

advice-child-maintenance-child-custody-divorceSharing is Caring

This and other articles and posts found on this website are written by Adv. Muhammad Abduroaf to assist people with various family law related issues they may have. If you find any of our articles, free resources and posts interesting, or possibly useful to others, please like and share it on Social Media by clicking on the icons below. For more interesting articles and information on Family Law, view our articles and Q&A page. If you have a family law related legal issue and you want someone to answer or reply to it, feel free to post it on our Family Law Blog. Therefore, kindly like and share. Should you require any other legal services and advice, not related to family law, visit Private Legal.  
Posted on by Telelaw

Top tips and tricks from a Senior Family Law Advocate on claiming maintenance for a five-year-old child in Bethlehem.

Child Maintenance is the right of the child, and not that of the parent. It is also not a privilege granted to parents who must pay it. It is their duty to pay child maintenance and support their children. Once the child is self-supporting (being able to care for him or herself), the obligation falls away. This can happen when the child is 18, 20, or even 30. It all depends on the circumstances of the case.

Claiming child maintenance for your child in Bethlehem

Whether you claim child maintenance in Bethlehem, or any other city in South Africa, the procedures would be the same. There are however two (2) courts that can deal with child maintenance matters. That is a divorce court, in a divorce matter, and a Child Maintenance Court. For this article, we will focus on claiming maintenance in a Maintenance Court matter in Bethlehem.

The maintenance scenario – Bethlehem South Africa

In this article, we will deal with the following fictitious scenario, in a child maintenance matter:

  1. The Child is seven years old and attends school in Bethlehem
  2. The child is cared for by the mother who works in Bethlehem
  3. The mother works and earns a Salary of R 10 000
  4. The father sees the child every second weekend. He also lives and works in Bethlehem
  5. The child’s monthly expenses are R 6000 – 00 which includes food, clothing, accommodation, education, travel etc.
  6. The father earns a reasonable salary and can afford the R 20 000 – 00 per month
  7. The mother claims R 4 000 – 00 maintenance as the father earns double her salary

What is the first step the mother must take in claiming child maintenance?

The first thing the mother must do is work out exactly what the child costs by item. She breaks down the minor child’s living expenses, starting from rent or accommodation to groceries to school fees etc. Once she has done that, she would need to determine what exactly does the minor child cost per month, seeing that she will be asking the father to contribute towards that. As best as possible, she needs to collect proof of expenses. This can be in the form of receipts.

How does she start the legal process?

The mother now needs to approach the maintenance court in the area where she lives or works to lodge a complaint for child maintenance. If she lives or works in Bethlehem, it would be the maintenance court in Bethlehem. She will complete a Form A wherein she will provide all the expenses for her and the minor child. She would also have to stipulate her income. Once she completed the form and submitted it to the maintenance court, she must then follow the next step.

What do you do while waiting for the maintenance court date?

While you wait to be informed of the court date by the Maintenance Court of Bethlehem, and up until the actual first court date, you need to ensure that you keep a record of all income and expenses for you and the child. This is very important as the court allocates maintenance based on recent income and expenses.

What happens at the first court appearance at the Bethlehem Maintenance Court?

Once you have been notified of the maintenance court date by the Bethlehem Maintenance Court, you need to ensure that you attend it. On that day, both you and the father of the child would appear before a maintenance officer. The maintenance officer would go through both your income and expenses as well as that of the father. If all the relevant information is not before the maintenance court, then the matter may be postponed in order for the parties to submit it.

The maintenance officer will try to settle the matter and have the parents come to an agreement regarding the amount of child maintenance to be paid. If they cannot come to an agreement regarding the child maintenance to be paid, the matter would have to proceed to a formal hearing or trial before a Magistrate.

How does the Maintenance Court hearing or trial work in Bethlehem?

Essentially, the maintenance court is called upon to make a fair ruling regarding what is a fair amount of child support that needs to be paid. For that to happen, the parents would have to give evidence in that regard. The mother would present to the court what the child costs, what she contributes and what she requires the other parent to pay. The Father would have a right to question the mother and to present evidence as to why he cannot afford the amount requested or why he feels it is an unfair amount. The mother can they also question him.

At the end of the day, the Bethlehem Maintenance Court would be able to properly determine what is a fair and adequate amount of child maintenance to pay after being presented will all relevant information. The Bethlehem Maintenance Court should play an active role in determining what is a fair amount of child maintenance the father should pay.

The above child maintenance application principles should apply to the following provinces and cities:

Eastern Cape:

Alice, Butterworth, East London, Graaff-Reinet, Grahamstown, King William’s Town, Mthatha

Port Elizabeth, Queenstown, Uitenhage, Zwelitsha

Free State:

Bethlehem. Bloemfontein, Jagersfontein, Kroonstad, Odendaalsrus, Parys, Phuthaditjhaba, Sasolburg, Virginia, Welkom

Gauteng:

Benoni, Boksburg, Brakpan, Carletonville, Germiston, Johannesburg, Krugersdorp, Pretoria, Randburg, Randfontein, Roodepoort, Soweto, Springs, Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging

KwaZulu-Natal:

Durban, Empangeni, Ladysmith, Newcastle, Pietermaritzburg, Pinetown, Ulundi, Umlazi

Limpopo:

Giyani, Lebowakgomo, Musina, Phalaborwa, Polokwane, Seshego, Sibasa, Thabazimbi

Mpumalanga:

Emalahleni, Nelspruit, Secunda, North West, Klerksdorp, Mahikeng, Mmabatho, Potchefstroom, Rustenburg, Northern Cape, Kimberley, Kuruman, Port Nolloth

Western Cape:

Bellville, Bethlehem, Constantia, George, Hopefield, Oudtshoorn, Paarl, Simon’s Town, Stellenbosch, Swellendam, Worcester

 

 

 

Posted on by Telelaw