Marriages create certain rights and duties for the husband and wife. In all marriages, couples have a legal duty to support each other. This means that they must look after any children and the home, and provide the family with food and clothing, medical care and other ‘household necessaries’. Either or both partners work to earn money.

All civil marriages are automatically in community of property, unless the parties sign an ante-nuptial contract before the marriage (except African marriages before 1998, which were automatically out of community of property unless the partners clearly chose to marry in community of property).