Wealthy South Africans should review their antenuptial contracts and family trusts now, according to Kirsten Smit, an advisory partner at Citadel, because courts are applying the accrual system more rigorously when marriages end and divorces are rising. Statistics South Africa recorded 24,202 divorces in 2024, up 8.9% on 2023.
The warning was published by BusinessTech on 10 September 2026. “As divorce and family laws evolve, affluent families need to prioritise the protection of their wealth by putting guardrails in place in terms of their assets,” Smit said. The comments are Citadel’s view of how the law is developing, and they are aimed at high-net-worth families.
## How the accrual system works
Most couples who marry out of community of property are subject to the accrual system unless their antenuptial contract (ANC) excludes it. Each spouse’s accrual is the growth in their estate during the marriage: the value of the estate at the end, less debts, less what it was worth at the start (adjusted for inflation using the consumer price index). The spouse whose estate grew more must transfer half of the difference to the other, according to a family-law guide.
Some assets fall outside the calculation. Inheritances, legacies and donations from third parties are excluded, as are assets the ANC excludes expressly. “Under South African law, inheritances are automatically protected and kept separate from your spouse, but the exact mechanism depends on the terms of the ANC you choose,” Smit said. She described a well-structured ANC as the most effective tool for families that want to protect wealth across generations.
Smit also pointed to interim relief. While a divorce is under way, a spouse can apply for temporary maintenance, child-related relief or a contribution towards legal costs. She said these measures can make maintenance expectations hard to manage and must be applied with care.
## What courts do with trusts
The sharpest risk for wealthy families is a trust that was used to shrink the accrual. Smit said courts are emphasising rigorous application of the accrual system, including recovering assets moved into trusts to reduce the accrual in a spouse’s estate.
That fits the case law. Family-law practice site Family Laws South Africa summarises the position: trusts cannot be used as instruments for defrauding or prejudicing a spouse’s financial claims in a divorce. In PAF v SCF, decided by the Supreme Court of Appeal in 2022, the court considered funds a husband had moved into an offshore trust in the British Virgin Islands and upheld the High Court’s order that the value of the transfers be counted in his estate for the accrual calculation, after a finding that he intended to deprive his wife of her accrual claim. In MJK and Others v IIK (judgment delivered in July 2022), the same court said that looking through a trust requires a solid legal foundation, in particular proof that the trust operated as the alter ego of a spouse. It rejected automatic inclusion without clear evidence.
An alter ego trust is one so closely controlled by a single person that it is in effect an extension of their personal estate. The same source says the spouse who wants the assets included carries the burden of proof, and must show how the trust was controlled, when it was created and what benefit the other spouse actually drew from it. The Trust Property Control Act treats trust property as separate from the personal estate of the founder or trustee, but that separation can give way where fairness between spouses demands it.
## What Citadel recommends
Smit said the value of a family trust depends on how it is designed at the outset and how it is overseen afterwards. She said many affluent people overlook the need for a trust deed that can adapt to changes in the law, and recommended independent trustees who understand family dynamics and can adjust guardrails as needed. Careful naming of beneficiaries and succession planning are also essential.
Another common mistake, she said, is letting financial structures become fragmented. “People tend to think that complexity is a good thing, but when you create more elegant, manageable solutions, you are truly adding value, transparency and fairness to everyone’s lives,” Smit said.
## The divorce numbers
The Stats SA report on marriages and divorces for 2024 counted 24,202 divorces. Women filed 57.2% of cases and men 33.0%, according to IOL. Four in ten divorces (41.7%) were of marriages that had lasted less than 10 years, and the median age at divorce was 46 for men and 42 for women. Civil marriages fell 1.8% to 97,510.
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