Written for people, not lawyers. Each guide has key points, a cost card, FAQs and a clear note on when you actually need an attorney.
You claim by lodging a completed claim form and supporting documents with the Road Accident Fund. If the other driver was identified you generally have three years from the date of the accident. For a hit and run you have only two years.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
No. In South Africa a landlord may never evict you without a court order. Changing the locks, removing doors or cutting off water and electricity to force you out is unlawful, even if you are behind on rent.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
It depends almost entirely on whether the divorce is uncontested or contested. An uncontested divorce where you agree on everything in writing is usually a few thousand to around twenty thousand rand. A contested divorce has no real ceiling.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
No. If you are retrenched for operational reasons, your employer must pay severance of at least one week's remuneration for each completed year of continuous service. You only lose that pay if you unreasonably refuse a suitable alternative job.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
Most people finish debt review in three to five years. Getting the court order usually takes about two months from the day you apply, and the process only ends when your debts are paid and your debt counsellor issues a clearance certificate.
4 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
Ask for the rejection in writing with reasons, dispute it internally with the insurer, and if that fails take it free of charge to the National Financial Ombud Scheme. Watch the time limits in the rejection letter, because they are short.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
It depends on whether a joint outgoing inspection was done and whether there is damage to deduct. Where there is no damage the deposit plus interest is usually due within seven days of the lease ending, and within 21 days if no inspection took place.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
You apply at the clerk of any Magistrates' Court. It is free, you do not need an attorney, and a magistrate can grant an interim order the same day. In an emergency phone the police on 10111 or the GBV Command Centre on 0800 428 428 first.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
The minimum notice is one week if you have been employed for six months or less, two weeks if more than six months but not more than a year, and four weeks if you have been there more than a year. Your contract can give more notice but not less.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
When a debt prescribes it becomes legally unenforceable, so nobody can sue you for it or collect it. But prescription is not automatic in practice: you have to raise it, because a court will not apply it for you.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
Plan for years, not months. A simple RAF claim can settle in roughly one to two years, while a serious injury claim that goes to trial commonly runs three to five years or longer. Payment after settlement adds further months.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
Transfer costs are what you pay on top of the purchase price to get the property registered in your name. The main items are transfer duty to SARS, the conveyancer fee, Deeds Office fees and, if you are financing, the bond registration costs.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
An antenuptial contract is an agreement signed before your wedding that decides how your assets and debts are held during the marriage and split if it ends. Without one you are automatically married in community of property.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
You refer an unfair dismissal by completing a CCMA referral form (LRA 7.11), serving a copy on your employer, and filing it with the CCMA within 30 days of the dismissal. It is free, and you do not need an attorney to do it.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
No. A deduction cannot lawfully be taken off your salary unless a court has authorised it and you have been given notice first. If money is disappearing from your payslip and you were never told, something has gone wrong and it can usually be challenged.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
Medical negligence is care that falls below the standard of a reasonably competent practitioner and causes harm. To prove it you must show a duty of care, a breach of that standard, and that the breach caused your injury. That almost always needs independent expert evidence.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
The PIE Act stops anyone being removed from their home without a court order, and forces the court to ask whether the eviction is just and equitable before granting it. It gives you notice, a chance to be heard, and often extra time to move.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
There is no fixed formula and no set rand amount. A court works out the child's reasonable monthly needs, then splits those costs between the parents in proportion to what each can afford.
5 min read · Reviewed 4 Sep 2026
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