[imagesource: NST Picture]

One of the unforeseen consequences of life these past 12 months has been the overwhelming surge in what family lawyer Bertus Preller terms “new divorce instructions”.

Whilst February and March make up what insiders dub ‘divorce season’, June through to November last year was far busier than usual.

Familiarity breeds contempt, and spending every waking minute confined indoors with your significant other is not good for one’s mental wellbeing.

Marriage shouldn’t be entered into lightly, which might account for why people are tying the knot a little later in life these days.

According to new data from Stats SA, the median age of first-time brides has increased from 30 in 2015 to 32 in 2019, and for grooms from 34 to 35.

In total, 129 597 civil marriages were registered in South Africa in 2019, with more than half, 75 519 (58,3%), solemnised by Department of Home Affairs marriage officers.

I wonder if they allowed the women in those marriages to keep their last names? 

The highest number of civil marriages was registered in Gauteng (32 352), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (21 753) and the Western Cape (16 783). The lowest was registered in Northern Cape (3 692).

The majority of civil marriages in 2019 for both bridegrooms (105 163) and brides (111 464) were first-time marriages, with women generally entering into marriage at a younger age than men do.

Here are the age stats for all civil marriages in South Africa, not just first-time brides and grooms:

A civil union is a legally recognised union with rights similar to those of marriage, created originally for same-sex couples in jurisdictions where they were not legally allowed to marry.

Until recently, only same-sex couples were entitled to claim a life partnership that effectively afforded both parties roughly the same rights as married couples.

This included the right to intestate succession and the maintenance of the surviving partner should the relationship be terminated by death.

For opposite-sex couples, these rights only came into effect once the ceremony was over, the rings firmly planted on fingers, and the marriage registered.

The average age for people in civil unions is roughly the same as of those in civil marriages:

Before the pandemic did a number on more than a few relationships, divorce was actually declining.

There were 23 710 completed divorce forms processed in 2019, indicating a decrease of 6,2% from the 25 284 divorces processed in 2018.

More women 12 615 (53,2%) than men 8 210 (34,6%) filed for divorce in 2019. The median ages at divorce in 2019 were 45 years for men and 41 years for women.

The results show that four in 10 divorces, 10 221 (43,1%) of the 23 710 in 2019, came from couples who did not make it to their 10th wedding anniversary.

That’s a bit of a bleak note to end on, so do yourself a favour and watch a massive proposal fail to lift your spirits.

[source:statssa]