Article On The Property Of An Insolvent Person

Z Mabe (University of South Africa – School of Law) recently published an article entitled, Life and Other Insurance Policy Benefits and the Property of an Insolvent Person, Journal of Contemporary Roman-Dutch Law, Vol. 78, p. 237-247, 2015. Provided below is an abstract of the article:

The sequestration of a person’s estate has far-reaching effects on his or her property, and on the property of his or her spouse. The general rule is that all the property of an insolvent person forms part of her insolvent estate. Where spouses are married out of community of property section 21 of the Insolvency Act provides for the vesting of the assets of the solvent spouse together with those of the insolvent person. However, there are certain exceptions to this general rule. One of these relates to life and other insurance policy benefits as envisaged in section 63 of the Long Term Insurance Act. Section 63, which has recently been amended, provides for the exclusion of life and other insurance policy benefits from the insolvent estate. The exclusion of life and other insurance policy benefits from the insolvent estate brings with it certain challenges, most notably balancing the interests of the creditors of the estate with the interests of the insolvent debtor, and those of his or her spouse.