Divorce and movable assets
When getting divorce the movable assets must somehow be divided between the parties. The movable assets consist amongst other things of all furniture in the house as well as any motor vehicles. It is basically all contents of the household, and not the actual structure of the property owned by the parties (the “immovable property”).
Although the movable assets are usually worth a lot less than other assets such as shares, immovable property and pension fund assets, they are still assets that need to be taken into account when drafting a divorce settlement agreement. The parties should make a list of their movable assets, try as best as one can to attach a monetary value to it, and mark off which he/she wishes to retain as his/her sole and absolute property after dissolution of the marriage.
Very often parties to a divorce settlement agreement insert the following clause in order to get the divorce through without any unnecessary delay: “The movable assets shall be divided equally between the parties as agreed between them without the necessity of details thereof being incorporated herein”. It very often happens that when a divorce is particularly acrimonious the parties argue about insubstantial items, such as who should get a snackwhicher or a toaster for example. This only serves to incur unnecessary legal costs.
Inasmuch as movable assets may very often have sentimental value to a person, one must bear in mind that if you were to sell a fridge for example that you bought for R2000 two years later it may only be worth R400 at date of sale.
Settling a divorce is all about “give and take” between the parties (at a time when they may not be emotionally ready to do so). One should remember that movable assets normally depreciate in value, as opposed to immovable assets which appreciate in value, and there is no reason why two parties should not be able to reach an agreement in respect of the movable assets to prevent unnecessary legal costs being incurred.
written by Pete Baker, a Cape Town divorce attorney.
(021 4222 117 , 082 436 2521, petermbaker@yahoo.com)
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