MAINTENANCE ACT REVIEW: SALRC PUBLISHES REPORT

The South African Law Reform Commission has published its report on a review of the Maintenance Act, 1998, which began in October 2014. The report includes a draft amendment Bill.

According to an accompanying media statement, recommendations include that:

  • ‘mediation be formally incorporated into the Maintenance Act and that the referral of parties to mediation after the initial investigation of the application or complaint be made mandatory’
  • the Minister be empowered to issue guidelines for determining maintenance awards ‘in order to ensure uniformity’, and that
  • provision be made for children above the age of 18 still dependent on their parents for financial support to apply for maintenance.

In addition, several recommendations are made for addressing specific circumstances involving the non-payment of maintenance and for dealing with the debt servicing-related consequences.

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

Follow us on X @SALegalAcademy (you can also join us on LinkedIn and Facebook)

There are not comments for this article at the moment, check back later.
You must be logged in to add a comment, log in now.
Need Help ?

Explore Smarty