· Built around the Accrual on divorce calculator
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Most South African marriages since 1984 out of community of property include the accrual system, and most divorces with children end with a maintenance figure. Both are sums, and both are worked out the same way in every court: the Matrimonial Property Act for the accrual, the Maintenance Act for the children. When payments stop, a garnishee order (emoluments attachment order) is how a creditor reaches a salary. This post works through all three with the accrual, child maintenance and garnishee order calculators.
Run your own numbers
The accrual calculator starts on the first example. Type each spouse's net value at the wedding and now, and the CPI rise in between.
Checked against the Acts
No court or department publishes a worked divorce example with numbers, so CalcSA applied each rule in the Act step by step and compared it with our calculators:
- Accrual: half the difference between the two spouses' growth, with the starting value raised by CPI - Matrimonial Property Act 88 of 1984, s3(1), s4(1)(a) and s4(1)(b)(iii). Our accrual calculator gives R375 000.
- Inheritances, legacies and donations from third parties are left out - s5(1). Our calculator gives R225 000 with a R300 000 inheritance excluded.
- Child maintenance: both parents are liable, in proportion to their respective means - Maintenance Act 99 of 1998, s15(2)-(3). Our child maintenance calculator gives R3 600 on the example.
- Garnishee orders: all orders together at most 25% of basic salary, employer commission up to 5% - Magistrates' Courts Act 32 of 1944, s65J. Our garnishee calculator gives R5 000, R3 500 room and 15 months.
No calculator needed a fix for this post.
Worked example 1: the accrual claim
- Spouse A started the marriage with R200 000 net and has R1 500 000 now. Spouse B started with R100 000 and has R600 000 (accrual calculator).
- Prices rose 50% over the marriage, so the starting values become R300 000 and R150 000 - growth that only keeps up with inflation is not accrual.
- A's accrual: R1 500 000 - R300 000 = R1 200 000. B's: R600 000 - R150 000 = R450 000.
- Difference R750 000, so A pays B half: R375 000. The claim is for money, not for half of each asset.
- A declared nothing at the wedding? The starting value counts as nil (s6(4)) - and A's whole R1 500 000 becomes accrual.
- Look up the CPI rise between your wedding month and now on Stats SA's CPI history, or estimate it with the inflation calculator.
Worked example 2: an inheritance during the marriage
- Same marriage, but R300 000 of A's R1 500 000 came from a parent's estate.
- It is left out: A's accrual is R1 500 000 - R300 000 - R300 000 = R900 000.
- Difference R900 000 - R450 000 = R450 000, so the claim drops to R225 000 - R150 000 less than in example 1.
- Keep the paper trail: the estate account and the bank transfer show where the money came from. Growth on an inheritance may be argued about - ask your attorney.
Photo: Anete Lusina on Pexels (free licence)
Worked example 3: child maintenance shared by income
- Start with what the child really costs a month: R6 000 for school, food, clothes, transport, medical aid and a share of housing (child maintenance calculator).
- You earn R30 000 and the other parent R20 000 - 60% and 40% of the R50 000 between you.
- Your share is R3 600 and theirs R2 400. The child lives with the other parent, so you pay your R3 600 to them - R43 200 a year.
- Equal incomes and a R9 000 budget? R4 500 each - the parent the child lives with spends theirs directly.
- School fees going up in January? Recalculate - either parent can ask the maintenance court to vary an order when costs change. The school fees calculator projects the rise.
Worked example 4: a garnishee order on a salary
- Basic salary R20 000 - overtime and allowances do not count - so all garnishee orders together can take at most R5 000 (garnishee calculator).
- An order of R1 500 is already running, leaving R3 500 of room. A new R2 000 instalment fits under the cap.
- A R30 000 debt at R2 000 a month is paid off in 15 months, before interest and costs.
- The employer may keep up to 5% commission - R100 on R2 000 - from the creditor's share, not from yours.
- Basic salary left after both orders: R16 500. The court must leave you enough to live on and support your dependants.
Not verified from a primary source: the income-ratio split is how "respective means" is usually applied - it is not a formula in the Maintenance Act, and a court decides what is fair. The 2015 Maintenance Amendment Act was not read. CalcSA has no built-in CPI history (Stats SA's CPI file could not be downloaded), so the CPI rise is yours to type. Every divorce turns on its own contract and facts - this is not legal advice.
What to do before you sign anything
- Find your antenuptial contract and the starting values it declared - no declaration can mean a nil start.
- List the child's real monthly costs with receipts before the maintenance hearing.
- Behind on a debt? Agree a payment plan before it reaches a garnishee order, and check whether it has prescribed with the prescribed debt calculator.
Sources
- Matrimonial Property Act 88 of 1984, s3-s6: justice.gov.za, read by CalcSA 15 October 2026.
- Maintenance Act 99 of 1998, s15: gov.za, read 16 October 2026.
- Magistrates' Courts Act 32 of 1944, s65J (emoluments attachment orders): justice.gov.za, read 15 October 2026.
- Stats SA, Consumer Price Index history: statssa.gov.za. Not downloaded for this post.
Calculators used in this post
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