A South African businessman has lost a legal battle to stop paying maintenance for his former wife’s children after their divorce, with judges ruling that his past conduct created a financial responsibility he could not abruptly abandon.
The case reached the Supreme Court of Appeal, which struck the man’s appeal from the roll with costs. The decision effectively means he must continue paying R40,000 per month in maintenance for the two teenagers, in addition to medical aid cover and R35,000 monthly towards his former wife’s rent, while the divorce proceedings continue.
The couple married in April 2018 out of community of property but separated in late 2023. When the wife filed for divorce in early 2024, she asked the court to compel her husband to continue financially supporting her children, aged 14 and 16, even though he was not their biological father. See More/Details