Question

My partner and I are getting married in December and need to decide whether we are doing it in community of property or with an ante-nuptial contract. Then there is something called with or without accrual.  How do we decide?

Answer

There are three ways to structure the money side of marriage. Each has its pros and cons and choosing the right marital regime for your personal circumstances is a big decision.  Briefly,

• If you do nothing before the wedding, you land in community of property by default: one big joint pot, assets and debts included.
• If you sign an antenuptial contract (ANC) without accrual, your estates stay separate—during the marriage and at the end.
• If you sign an ANC with accrual, you keep things separate while married, but share the growth fairly when the marriage ends (through divorce or death).

Three routes, three very different day-to-day experiences and results.  I will go through the pros and cons of each of these to help you make the right call.

In community of property

On your wedding day, your estates merge into a joint estate. It’s simple to enter—no lawyers beforehand—and it can feel wonderfully transparent: one household balance sheet, one set of decisions, one destination.

But there’s a flip side. Debts also land in that pot. If your partner runs a business, signs surety, or has a history of impulsive borrowing, you are exposed.

Major transactions require spousal consent, which is a safeguard when both are prudent and a handbrake when one isn’t. And if one spouse brings substantial assets into the marriage, ring-fencing later is hard and expensive.

This works well for couples with similar asset bases and financial habits, low business risk, and a strong preference for simplicity.

If that’s you, community can work just fine—as long as you go in with eyes open about shared liabilities and a clear agreement on how you’ll handle debt, big buys, and emergencies.

ANC without accrual

With an ANC that excludes accrual, what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours—full stop.

Your spouse’s creditors can’t reach your assets, and the admin on exit is usually cleaner because there’s no sharing calculation. For entrepreneurs, professionals with potential liability, or second marriages where adult children are in the picture, this regime can be a godsend.

The caution is fairness. Over a long marriage, careers zig and zag. Someone may pause work to study or raise children; another might pour energy into a business that skyrockets. Without accrual, that joint effort doesn’t translate automatically into a share of growth.

If you go this route, plan deliberately to protect the economically weaker spouse: save in both names, structure your wills generously, set up life and disability cover that actually pays the bills, and consider contractual clauses that compensate for career sacrifices.

ANC with accrual

This is almost a hybrid of the other two.  During the marriage, you each keep your own estate and enjoy creditor protection; at the end, you compare how much each estate grew and equalise half the difference.

Pre-marital assets can be declared as starting values (so their original value doesn’t count as growth), and inheritances or donations received during the marriage are usually excluded unless you opt in.

A simple picture helps. If your estate grew by R5 million and your partner’s by R1 million, the difference is R4 million; your partner would have a R2 million claim to equalise. That mechanism respects unpaid contributions—child-rearing, supporting studies, building a partner’s business—without exposing you to each other’s day-to-day creditors while you’re married.

The admin is the real work: keep records. List and value what you had before the wedding, attach schedules to the ANC, and file the proof. If you own businesses or farms, valuations may be needed down the line. Liquidity also matters: if you’ll owe an accrual claim, make sure the estate has cash or cover to fund it without a fire sale.

How I help couples decide

If either of you runs a business, signs surety, or faces professional liability, I lean strongly towards an ANC—usually with accrual for fairness. Add big wealth mismatches? Still accrual, but declare starting values so pre-marital assets are protected. This is usually the best option for first marriages.

Second marriages with blended families often point to without accrual, paired with careful wills and beneficiary nominations, to look after both spouse and children. This is also best if there is a high liability risk.

If both are salaried with similar assets, low debt, and a love for one-pot simplicity, community can be perfectly sensible—just be brutally honest about spending habits and debt.

Whichever route you choose, make it conscious. Sign before the wedding. Keep records. Align the regime with a proper will, beneficiary nominations and the right insurance. Love shouldn’t be collateral damage in a legal system you never discussed—half an hour with a good lawyer and planner now can save years of angst later.