Husband seeks asset forfeiture from wife over gambling losses in divorce

A husband embroiled in a divorce has approached the Western Cape High Court, seeking an order for his wife to forfeit her share of their joint assets.

He alleges that she has squandered millions of rand accumulated over the years on gambling. In response, the wife contends that her gambling was merely for entertainment purposes and insists that she only wagered small amounts on the activity.

The wife turned to court to obtain a divorce from her husband, a medical doctor, and she asked that their estate be divided equally, as they are married in community of property.

The husband, in a counterclaim, asked that because of her gambling, she either forfeited her half or a portion of the joint assets.

While the wife alleged abuse by her husband for the break-up of the marriage, the husband, in turn, said it was because of her “compulsive gambling addiction". 

The wife conceded that she started gambling socially around 2012 when her son turned three and was at school.

At that point, she had won about R4 000 from the R500 her mother had given her.

She could not give a definitive figure of the amounts gambled over time in total.

According to the husband, the gambling losses ran into millions of rands. He testified that his wife would be unduly benefited if she were to receive half of the joint estate, given her conduct and limited contribution to the growth of their joint estate.

He said, “one cannot claim or get what they do not deserve or work for".

The court found that there is not a basis for a court to order forfeiture.

“The evidence which this court accepts is that both spouses, to a greater and lesser extent, gambled or alternatively tended to go to gambling areas,” the court concluded.

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Cape Argus