Cabinet acts on 'Red Line marriages' law
The Uniform Matrimonial Property Bill of 2018 has been approved by cabinet and referred to the Cabinet Committee on Legislation (CCL) for further scrutiny and appropriate recommendations before it makes its way to the National Assembly.
Under a law dating back to 1928, all marriages contracted in the northern communal areas of Namibia are out of community of property - a situation that the Law Reform Development Commission aimed to change. It will now be replaced with a new matrimonial regime.
This will make the default system of marriage in community of property apply to everyone in Namibia.
Those who got married before 1990 will have an opportunity to change their matrimonial status to the property regime and status they prefer.
This law has been a thorn in the flesh of Namibians for a very long time and many activists have pushed for its reform.
The issue was also one of the most pertinent issues during town hall meetings President Hage Geingob held shortly after he was elected head of state.
Home affairs minister Frans Kapofi said it was a very good improvement and he hoped they could push the bill into parliament before it goes into recess next month.
“We have people, especially those that got married north of the so-called red line, who got married out of community of property even if their intentions were to get married within community of property. That law will change that, and that is the reason why we took that law to cabinet. Hopefully we'll get it into parliament before it breaks for recess,” he said.
In an interview last month, Kapofi told Namibian Sun that they wanted to give people the option to choose their matrimonial status from a schedule that would be attached to the marriage certificate.
“We are working on all those details to make life much easier. Time will tell how practical this is, because we still have to take this bill to parliament,” said Kapofi.
Included in the law is an unprecedented recommendation that lawyers would no longer have to be consulted when drawing up prenuptial contracts for couples.
Local lawyers charge between N$1 500 and N$3 500 to draft, review and register a prenuptial contract.
Under a law dating back to 1928, all marriages contracted in the northern communal areas of Namibia are out of community of property - a situation that the Law Reform Development Commission aimed to change. It will now be replaced with a new matrimonial regime.
This will make the default system of marriage in community of property apply to everyone in Namibia.
Those who got married before 1990 will have an opportunity to change their matrimonial status to the property regime and status they prefer.
This law has been a thorn in the flesh of Namibians for a very long time and many activists have pushed for its reform.
The issue was also one of the most pertinent issues during town hall meetings President Hage Geingob held shortly after he was elected head of state.
Home affairs minister Frans Kapofi said it was a very good improvement and he hoped they could push the bill into parliament before it goes into recess next month.
“We have people, especially those that got married north of the so-called red line, who got married out of community of property even if their intentions were to get married within community of property. That law will change that, and that is the reason why we took that law to cabinet. Hopefully we'll get it into parliament before it breaks for recess,” he said.
In an interview last month, Kapofi told Namibian Sun that they wanted to give people the option to choose their matrimonial status from a schedule that would be attached to the marriage certificate.
“We are working on all those details to make life much easier. Time will tell how practical this is, because we still have to take this bill to parliament,” said Kapofi.
Included in the law is an unprecedented recommendation that lawyers would no longer have to be consulted when drawing up prenuptial contracts for couples.
Local lawyers charge between N$1 500 and N$3 500 to draft, review and register a prenuptial contract.
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Namibian Sun
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