Notary Public | Antenuptial Contracts & Notarial Deeds

A notary public is an attorney admitted by the High Court to a further office, with authority to draw and attest deeds that carry a particular evidentiary weight. Certain documents are not valid unless they are notarially executed, and no other practitioner may do it.

Antenuptial contracts

This is the notarial deed most people encounter, and usually at the busiest moment of their lives.

The choice is genuinely consequential. Marry without a contract and you marry in community of property: one joint estate, shared assets, shared debts, and a requirement to obtain your spouse’s consent for significant transactions. Marry with an antenuptial contract and you each retain your own estate — and then decide separately whether the accrual system applies, which determines whether growth during the marriage is shared at the end.

None of this is about mistrust. It is about deciding deliberately, while you are both calm, what should happen in circumstances neither of you expects.

The contract must be signed before the notary before the wedding, and registered in the Deeds Office within three months. Leave it to the last week and you risk marrying under a regime you did not choose.

Notarial bonds, servitudes and long leases

A notarial bond registers security over movable property. A servitude registers a real right over someone else’s land — a right of way, a usufruct allowing someone to occupy and use property for life, a habitatio. A lease of ten years or longer must be notarially executed and registered against the title deed to bind future owners.

Each of these has to be drafted precisely and lodged correctly, because each becomes part of the public record attaching to the property.

Documents for use abroad

South African documents — a birth certificate, a degree, a power of attorney, a company resolution — generally need authentication before a foreign authority will accept them. Where the destination country is party to the Hague Convention, an apostille is sufficient. Where it is not, the document must be legalised through the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and then the relevant embassy.

Getting the wrong one is a costly detour. Tell us where the document is going before we start.

How long it takes

An antenuptial contract must be signed before the notary before the wedding, and is then registered in the Deeds Office within three months of execution. Bring it forward in your planning rather than leaving it to the final fortnight. Document authentication generally takes a few days, longer where DIRCO legalisation is required for a country outside the Hague Convention.

Bring this to a first meeting

Identity documents or passports for every party signing

Proof of residential address

For an antenuptial contract: your intended wedding date and, if accrual applies, the commencement values you wish to record

For authentication: the original document to be authenticated, and the name of the country where it will be used

How a notarial services matter actually runs

Honest stages and honest timing, including the parts that are not within our control.

Consultation on the regime

Before anything is drafted, we work through what marrying in community, out of community, and out of community with accrual would each mean for you in practice.

One meetingYou

Drafting the contract

The antenuptial contract is prepared, including the commencement values each of you wishes to record if the accrual system applies.

3-5 business daysUs

Execution before the notary

Both parties sign before the notary. This must happen before the wedding. Marry first and changing your regime afterwards requires a High Court application under section 21 of the Matrimonial Property Act.

Before the weddingYou

Registration in the Deeds Office

The executed contract is lodged and registered within three months of execution, after which it binds third parties.

Within 3 monthsThe Deeds Office

Timings are typical, not promised — every matter has its own facts. What we do promise is that you will always know which stage yours has reached.

Common questions

What happens if we marry without an antenuptial contract?

You are married in community of property by default. You share a single joint estate — assets and debts both — and neither of you can deal with major assets without the other's consent. It is a perfectly legitimate regime, but it should be a decision rather than an accident, particularly where one spouse is in business and could expose the joint estate to creditors.

What is the accrual system?

It applies to marriages out of community of property unless expressly excluded. Each spouse keeps their own estate during the marriage, and on dissolution the spouse whose estate has grown less shares in the difference. It is generally the fairest default: it protects each party's independence during the marriage while recognising the non-financial contribution each made to the other's growth.

Can we sign the antenuptial contract after the wedding?

No. It must be executed before the notary before you marry. If you have already married in community of property and want to change your matrimonial property regime, that requires an application to the High Court under section 21 of the Matrimonial Property Act, with notice to creditors — considerably more involved, and more costly, than doing it beforehand.

What is an apostille, and do I need one?

An apostille is a standardised certificate that makes a South African public document acceptable in another country that is party to the Hague Apostille Convention. South Africa is a member. For a country that is not, the document must instead be legalised through DIRCO and then through that country's embassy. Tell us the destination country and we will confirm which route applies.

Notarial Services