Many people require divorce decrees for certain applications overseas, but sometimes in the difficult time that divorce poses, no records were kept and they do not have a copy of their divorce decree or even case number.
If you were married in South Africa or had your marriage registered in South Africa, you would have been set as MARRIED on the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) system and would at that stage have been able to obtain an unabridged marriage certificate. If you then divorced, you would need to have registered the divorce on the system too, by going into a DHA branch or SA mission abroad. Thereafter, you would not be able to obtain a marriage certificate, but a letter of no impediment stating your DIVORCED status.
What is a divorce decree?
When someone is asked to produce a divorce decree, it usually means they require the front page of the decree only, stamped and signed by the High Court or court in which the decree was issued. Sometimes, the divorce decree and full settlement are required, which means the whole document that you and your ex-spouse signed and agreed upon to divorce each other legally.
A typical South African divorce decree page looks a little something like this (names and details removed), but may differ slightly depending on the court and year of issue. Simply click to enlarge the divorce decree.
Example divorce decree for South Africa
The format may differ slightly of this front page, but usually the stamp from the High Court is in red ink and without ink stamps and signatures, the document can often not be used as it would then only be a copy.
How to obtain a divorce decree in South Africa
Thankfully, unless you have absolutely no details of the divorce and cannot remember the court it took place in, obtaining one is not a long process, but definitely a difficult one. Members of the public and foreigners often do not even have access to the places that lawyers can attend, within the High Court, to obtain the divorce decree documentation.
If you are abroad, you cannot simply go and obtain your South African divorce decree online. You will need to make an application at the High Court and obtain an original copy from them.
The minimum information needed to obtain a divorce decree quickly is the divorce case number and the court in which it took place. Without the case number, the exact date and court would allow a lawyer to search the divorce records of that year, month and date and find the divorce case number and decree in that method. With only a year (no month or day), the lawyer would have to search through all the divorces of that year in that court. Even worse, some people only know which city they were divorced in, but there are several courts to search within each major city in South Africa (e.g. Durban has three).
In other words, the following are all bits of information that can assist to obtain the divorce decree faster:
- Divorce case number
- Court in which the divorce took place
- The date (day, month and year) of the divorce
- The names and ID numbers of the people involved (plaintiff and defendant)
Sometimes people have an old scanned copy of the divorce decree and this contains all the above information and more! So, if you do have a divorce decree and are reading this, go and scan your current copy now. It may prove worthwhile and save you a lot of time and money in future.
It is important to note, however, that:
a.) While Apostil has an excellent success rate with obtaining divorce decrees, there are rare instances where we go to the court, search for and locate the file, but then are shown by the court staff that there is no documentation in the file/folder. In this case there is nothing further we (or anyone else) can do to assist.
b.) In some instances, after searching for a file at the given court, we find that the file has been relocated to a different court or off-site archive, often only obtainable through an application at the Department of Justice. In these cases, Apostil may request an additional fee and the timing will change considerably (additional 3 months).
Although the above two situations happen very rarely, they are real possibilities which we need to inform you of before proceeding.
What are the next steps after obtaining a divorce decree?
Once you have the document, some countries or authorities just need an original and others need it to be apostilled or attested. If apostilled, DIRCO will be verifying the court and not the document.
What does it cost to obtain the divorce decree?
Before attempting to search for your divorce decree in South Africa, find out exactly what you require and then contact us to find out an estimated timing and pricing. Generally speaking, the pricing for divorce decrees with or without case numbers is the following, also displayed on our pricing page.
Divorce documents |
||
| Divorce decree with case number | R4,750 | 1-4 weeks |
| Divorce decree without case number | R6,750 | 1-24 weeks |
| Settlement Agreement (if exists in file) | +R1,250 | Included in above |
Need a divorce document?
If you need a divorce document for South Africa, get in touch right away on email or phone, as we can assist you at least in getting closer to having it in your hand, even if we cannot obtain it right away.
📞 Call us today at +27 21 825 9940 or +27 11 083 9830
📧 Email: clients@apostil.co.za
I neec a copy of my divorce decree
This is a long shot i know. My mum was married in suffolk and divorced in South Africa. My step father is nowhere to be found. My mother divorced my step father 20 years ago. Everything she had has been stolen. I know she was divorced in Kempton Park around 1986. Is there anyway of taking it further and paying someone to do this for me. Please advise. Regards
Hi,
I am after a copy of my divorce decree. I have all the required information which includes the case number, date and court where the divorced was finalised.
Can you please confirm if you can assist with this and what the cost would be?
Yes, with the court and case number we can definitely assist, and the pricing/timing of our services is on the Pricing page.
Hi I desperately need information about my fathers divorce documents he divorced in Richmond court with one of the wifes and we do not have information about his second divorce but he said he had divorced both his wife’s.
Hi Ano
You will have to give much more information than that. Which court was the divorce registered in and what was the case number?
Hi,
My ex husband and I were married in South Africa but came to the UK and unfortunately got divorced in the U.K. How do I register our divorce in South Africa as the Home Office in South Africa still has us as married?
Thank you in advance
With the proof of the divorce, you can have it registered in South Africa. We offer this registration service remotely – please contact us to get started right away!
I I did get married here in south Africa with a Pakistani man but we never stay together or did have any children together and now I don’t know his whereabouts is or is he still a alive or dead I can’t make a I’d for my self because they want his passport number or id number I really want help to divorce him because I want to get my id I only know his date of birth that’s all can you please help me in finding holim or to get a divorce
You would need to approach a divorce lawyer to get divorced from your husband.
Good day,
Can you kindly assist us in obtaining the divorce decree?
Yes, certainly, kindly email us on info@apostil.co.za to get the ball rolling.
Can i please have a copy of my devorce sertificate
Yes, contact us with the correct information to start.
Can i have a copy of my devorce settlement
Read above what information you will need for us to locate your divorce decree for you.
Hi I need help getting my divorce degree paper I know where and name and surname of my ex-husband and year I got divorce
Excellent, contact us and we can assist to obtain the divorce decree.
Hi there, I need to get hold of a divorce document asap. I don’t have a case number. All that I have is the place (Pretoria), the date was sometime August 1999 and the ID numbers of the two parties. How soon can one obtain such a document? This is for a visa application to the UK and time is of the essence. Can you assit please?
It is possible, but not at all guaranteed. Please email us for more information.
Good morning to you! I need fairly urgently , my mothers first marriage divorce document.
I have the marriage date and the rough divorce month and the names of both mother and her husband.
Was a war marriage… I also need all documents in this list apostled…and certified ….could you do them?
List
My mothers 1st and 2nd marraiges certificates ( I have their 2nd certificate)
My fathers birth certificate (Uk)
My birth certificate.
My marriage certificate in ziM) ?
My husband and two children’s birth certificates ? Sa and Zim birth certificates.
Can you help us?
What would your quote be?
Can I just see if you can get the divorce paper and certify and a
Apostle it?
Time frame?
Kind regards
Vee
Good Day would it be possible to access the magistrates notes.
My Husband and I had a joint meeting with the magistrate which did the divorce application in Vereeniging Court 2009. There was agreements made which was noted by the magistrate.
I now need these note urgently.
Kind Regards
The only possibility is that these may be in the divorce settlement file. You would need to request the full file from the court.
What do I do If the Court has lost my File
In that case, the only option may be that the lawyers you used have a copy? If not, there is nothing you can do.
Good day.
I am in need of our settlement agreement. I have our divorce degree. Can you please contact me with pricing please
Sure, please email us on info@apostil.co.za. Also, see apostil.co.za/pricing.
hi how can i find out if im still married or not my ID XXXXXXXXXXXXX
You can do a status check through our services. Please contact us on info@apostil.co.za.
Hi I am in need of settlement agragreement .
Hello,
I divorced in George in the Western Cap. however, I was not told what I should do after the divorce was finalized. My problem is, I need to know how long and how to get my divorce decree.
what is the next step to take now, where do i get the decree from?
please assist
We can certainly assist – please email us and we will make contact to get as much information as you have, then attempt to retrieve the divorce decree from the relevant High Court.
Good day,
Please help me with some advice?
I am divorced and have the decree from court so everything is finalized on that side of things. My question is relating to surname change and ID card – I want to revert back to my maiden name but no one can tell me if it is possible for me to only get it changed on the DHA system without getting a new ID card. I have two ID cards; one with married name and original with maiden name so it is not necessary to pay for another one.
Hope this makes sense.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Certainly, you can have it changed on the DHA system, but if you have a new ID card with your married surname, it has already been changed to that and cannot be changed back without a divorce decree.
I lost my divorce letter. How can i get a copy?
Definitely, yes. You will need some basic information on the divorce date and in which High Court. A case number would make it much easier. Get in touch!