How much does a divorce cost in South Africa?

A divorce in South Africa can cost a few thousand rand or several hundred thousand. The one thing that moves the number most is whether the divorce is uncontested, meaning you and your spouse agree in writing on everything, or contested, meaning a court has to decide something for you.

This guide is part of our Divorce in South Africa: the complete guide, which links every guide on the topic.

Nothing else comes close to that difference. The size of your estate, the court you use and whether you have children all matter, but they matter far less than whether the two of you are arguing.

Uncontested and contested divorces are different products

Every divorce in South Africa is granted under the Divorce Act 70 of 1979, and in almost every case the ground is irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. That means the marriage has broken down to the point where there is no reasonable prospect of restoring a normal relationship. You do not have to prove that anyone was at fault.

An uncontested divorce is one where you settle everything before you get near a courtroom: how the assets are divided, who the children live with, contact arrangements, and maintenance. Your agreement is written up as a settlement agreement, and the court is asked to make it an order. Only one of you usually has to appear, and the appearance is often over in minutes.

A contested divorce is a full lawsuit. Pleadings, discovery of documents, expert reports, possibly a trial. Attorneys bill by the hour, so every letter, every affidavit and every postponement adds to the bill.

The practical point is this. If you and your spouse can agree, even roughly, you are choosing the cheap version. If you cannot, you are choosing the expensive one, and neither of you controls how expensive it gets.

What you are actually paying for

The invoice is usually made up of some combination of:

• The attorney's professional fees, charged either at an hourly rate or as a fixed fee for a defined uncontested matter.
• Drafting, which covers the summons, the particulars of claim, the settlement agreement and, where there are children, a parenting plan.
• Sheriff's fees for serving the summons on your spouse. This is a separate charge that has nothing to do with your attorney, and it goes up if the sheriff has to travel or make repeated attempts.
• Court fees and disbursements, which are usually small on their own but add up.
• Counsel (an advocate), if one is briefed. This is common in contested High Court matters and unusual in uncontested ones.
• Experts, such as a social worker, a psychologist or an actuary. These are only needed in contested matters and can be a very large line item.
• VAT, which most firms quote separately.

Ask for the quote to be split this way. A firm that will not tell you which part is fees and which part is disbursements is not a firm you want billing you by the hour.

What an uncontested divorce usually costs

Quoted ranges vary a lot by firm and by city, and nothing below is a fixed price. As a broad guide, a simple uncontested divorce with no children and no assets to divide is commonly quoted in the low thousands of rands. Once there are children, a settlement agreement and a parenting plan to draft, the range typically runs into the teens of thousands. Our family cost page sets out typical market ranges for each item.

Some firms offer a flat fee for an uncontested divorce. That is usually good value, but read what it excludes. Flat fees normally assume your spouse signs everything without changes and does not defend. The moment your spouse files a notice of intention to defend, most flat fees fall away and hourly billing starts.

Why a contested divorce has no real ceiling

In a contested divorce the cost is driven by the other side's behaviour as much as your own. A spouse who refuses to disclose assets, changes attorneys, or postpones repeatedly will drive your bill up even if you are being entirely reasonable.

Contested divorces in the High Court, particularly ones involving a business, a trust or a fight about the children, routinely run into hundreds of thousands of rands across both sides. Courts can order one party to pay some or all of the other's costs, but you should never plan around that. It is discretionary and it usually arrives long after you have already paid your own attorney.

If money is a real constraint, the cheapest thing you can do is narrow the fight. Even settling three of four issues shortens the trial and cuts the cost.

A worked example: one couple, two paths

This example is illustrative. Take a made-up couple, Sipho and Nomvula, married in community of property with two children at primary school and a bonded house. This is an illustration only, not a price list.

Path one. Sipho and Nomvula sit down with a mediator over three sessions and agree that the house will be sold once the youngest finishes primary school, that the children will live mainly with Nomvula with alternate weekends and half of every holiday with Sipho, and that Sipho will pay a monthly amount towards the children plus school fees. One attorney drafts the summons, the settlement agreement and the parenting plan from that mediated note. The sheriff serves the summons on Sipho at home on the first attempt. Nobody defends. Nomvula appears in court for a few minutes and the decree is granted. The bill is the mediator's fees, a fixed drafting fee, the sheriff's fee and VAT. It is a modest, predictable number.

Path two. Sipho believes Nomvula has been moving money to her sister. Nomvula believes Sipho will not stick to any contact schedule. Both instruct attorneys. There are letters, a notice of intention to defend, a plea and a counterclaim, a request for bank statements, a forensic accountant, a social worker's report on the children, an interim maintenance application while the divorce runs, two postponements and eventually a trial date more than a year away. The same house, the same children, the same bond, and the cost is now measured in multiples of path one, with no fixed end point.

The difference between the two paths is not the estate. It is trust, and how quickly the two of them decided to stop paying attorneys to argue about it.

Time is also money. A contested divorce can stay open for a year or more, and every month it stays open is a month in which someone writes a letter you pay for. See how long an uncontested divorce takes.

Documents to gather

Bring these to your first consultation, or as many as you can find:

• your marriage certificate
• your antenuptial contract, if you signed one, and any later amendment registered at the Deeds Office
• the children's birth certificates
• your last three payslips and your spouse's if you have them
• three to six months of bank statements for every account
• your latest bond statement, vehicle finance statements and credit agreements
• a retirement fund or pension benefit statement
• a list of assets and debts with rough values, including furniture, vehicles and anything held in a business or trust
• proof of the children's monthly expenses, such as school fee statements, medical aid statements and aftercare invoices

An attorney who has all of this in the first hour can draft a settlement agreement quickly. One who has to chase you for it over six weeks is billing you for the chasing.

Common mistakes that cost the most

Instructing before you have tried to agree. Once summons is issued, every negotiation happens through attorneys at hourly rates. Talking, or mediating, first is far cheaper.

Fighting about the small things. A dispute over a fridge or a couch can cost more in fees than the item is worth. Ask your attorney to tell you honestly when that is happening.

Signing something you do not understand. A settlement agreement that is badly drafted, particularly around a pension interest or a bond, can cost far more to fix later than it would have cost to get right.

Hiding assets. It rarely works, it destroys your credibility with the court, and it tends to produce costs orders against you.

What is free

Several parts of the system cost nothing, and people pay for them unnecessarily.

• The Maintenance Court, which sits in the Magistrates' Court, deals with child and spousal maintenance. Applying is free, and you do not need an attorney. See How is child maintenance calculated?.
• The Office of the Family Advocate assists in matters involving children, at no cost, and can investigate and report to the court on what is in the child's best interests.
• A protection order under the Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998 is applied for free at any Magistrates' Court.
• Legal Aid South Africa on 0800 110 110 takes on some family matters, particularly where a child's interests are involved. There is a means test, so phone and ask rather than assuming you do not qualify. Our legal aid page has more.
• University law clinics in most major centres take family matters for free or at very low cost.

If you are in danger at home, the police are on 10111 and the GBV Command Centre on 0800 428 428 answers day and night. Your safety comes before any cost question.

How to keep the bill down

Agree what you can before you instruct anyone. Mediation is usually far cheaper than litigation and a mediated agreement can be made an order of court.

Ask for a written mandate and a fee estimate up front, and ask to be billed monthly rather than at the end. Say clearly that you do not want long letters written to score points. Use email rather than telephone calls where you can, so there is a record and less billed time.

What to do this week

1. Write down, in one page, what you realistically want the outcome to be on the house, the children and money.
2. Find your marriage certificate and check whether an antenuptial contract exists. If you are not sure, the Deeds Office can confirm.
3. Gather the documents listed above into one folder, paper or digital.
4. If it is safe to do so, ask your spouse whether they are willing to mediate. A single yes can change the whole cost picture.
5. Phone two or three firms and ask whether they offer a fixed fee for an uncontested divorce, what it includes and what it excludes. If money is tight, phone Legal Aid South Africa instead.

Finally, decide early whether you are fighting about money or about hurt. Divorces get expensive when the second one is being paid for with the first.