Book review: LAW OF DIVORCE AND DISSOLUTION OF LIFE PARTNERSHIPS IN SOUTH AFRICA By Jacqueline Heaton (Editor)

“Marriage,n. The state or condition of a community consisting of a master, a mistress and two slaves, making in all, two.”

– Devil’s Dictionary (1911) by Ambrose Bierce (796 pages)

Juta & Co Ltd

www.jutalaw.co.za

This comprehensive new publication provides within its covers an in-depth and detailed analysis of the law in South Africa relating to the termination by divorce of civil unions, civil marriages, customary marriages, Muslim marriages and Hindu marriages as well as the dissolution of life partnerships.

Various sections of the book deal with the grounds for divorce, the personal and financial consequences of divorce, and the situation of minor and dependent children. Issues covered include domestic violence, procedure, costs, conflict of laws, and alternative dispute resolutions options such as mediation.

Publishers Juta and editor Professor Jacqueline Heaton, BLC, LLB, LLM, have assembled as contributors a distinguished panel of practitioners and academics from the Universities of Witwatersrand, Free State, North-West, Western Cape, Cape Town, Pretoria, Johannesburg and the University of South Africa. Their combined expertise make this work an exceptional resource for all professionals who deal on a daily basis with the important decisions to be made and steps to be taken on all these intimate personal relationships which form the core of our social, cultural and economic fabric.
A significant and valuable feature of this work is the well-indexed references to local and foreign legislation, applicable case law, an extensive bibliography and pertinent footnotes providing the essential authorities for a truly outstanding exposition of the law in a field which has recently been somewhat neglected and fragmented. That gap has been more than handsomely filled and the publishers and team of authors are to be congratulated.

Review by Louis Rood, BA LLB (UCT), of Fairbridges Wertheim Becker.