Medical practitioners are required to comply with the principle of confidentiality for ethical and legal reasons. Confidentiality is also linked with the right to privacy, which is a protected human right under our Constitution. Patients often approach their trusted health-care providers with the confidence that their personal affairs will be kept private and generally, it is unacceptable and illegal to disclose anyone’s medical information without his/her consent. However, as with many rules in law, there are exceptions that may apply to the general rule. Section 36 of the Constitution can limit certain human rights and may apply when a balance must be struck between two competing rights.

The Children’s Act 38 of 2005 provides that a child’s parents (biological or adoptive) have a duty to financially maintain and support their children. Unfortunately, it often happens that one parent does not do their part and the other parent must then obtain a maintenance order from court under the Maintenance Act 99 of 1998. Even after a court order has been obtained, the other parent may still not pay the maintenance (for example, due to losing their job). A question that is often asked in those situations is whether pension funds can be used to satisfy a child maintenance order when the parent is not making payments. This article will address this question and educate on the rights available to parents faced with this situation.

South African labour law provides for an annual earnings threshold used to establish whether certain protection provided by labour law will apply to an employee or not. Many employees do not know what this earnings threshold actually means and what impact an increase to this earnings threshold will have on them.

In keeping with the increasing costs of providing legal expenses insurance, our insurance cover benefits and premiums will increase from 1 July 2024.

LegalWise has made changes to some of their benefits, limits, restrictions and exclusions based on feedback they’ve received from their Members, their Network of Lawyers and their employees. They’ve also used this update as an opportunity to introduce new benefits on the GoldPLUS and Platinum Membership options.

Peter had been paying child maintenance towards a child who was believed to be his. He has paid the maintenance for 11 years without a maintenance order in place. He just supported the child under the impression that he was the father. After a paternity test, Peter discovered that he is not the biological father of the child and now wants to claim all the child maintenance money back from the mother of the child. Can Peter legally claim back the child maintenance, and if so, who can he claim the child maintenance from?

The Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 was enacted with the object of managing the severity of disasters, amongst other things. It was under this legislation that the country could be placed under lock-down during the Covid 19 pandemic. Under the same law, lock-down regulations were created with regards to the conduct of all persons in South Africa during that period. Failure to adhere to the regulations had dire consequences, including criminal prosecution and possibly a criminal record. The pandemic has eased, the regulations are no longer enforced and a way out for those who already acquired a criminal record under the lock-down regulations has come.

Trusts are very useful estate planning tools and can be used for a wide variety of purposes. It basically means that a person (founder) puts his/her trust in someone else (trustee) to manage assets on behalf of someone (beneficiary).

It is heartbreaking when a loved one dies. The idea of having to deal with their belongings after their death (“deceased estate”) can be scary for the family. A deceased estate must be reported to the Master of the High Court (“Master”) or a Magistrates’ Office service point to appoint a person that will deal with the administration of the deceased estate. The administration of a deceased estate does not have to be scary and this article will shed some light on the procedures that must be followed.

Parents are often concerned about what would happen to their children should they die before the children reach adulthood, or even after adulthood in some instances. They want to ensure that their assets, including their family home and investments, are protected and used responsibly to maintain and support the educational and general needs of their minor children until they reach a certain age.