March 2022 – Minde Schapiro & Smith

Property Owner and Body Corporate Liable After Child’s Electrocution?

A recent High Court decision saw both a sectional title unit owner and his cupboard contractor held liable for damages suffered by an 11-year-old boy electrocuted by a communal tap. The complex’s body corporate and an electrician were also sued but escaped liability. The reasons given by the Court for these contrasting outcomes provide valuable lessons for property owners, contractors, and bodies corporate. Electrocuted when he turned on a tap You don’t expect to be electrocuted when you turn on a tap, but

Don’t Accidentally Disqualify Your Chosen Heirs from Inheriting!

“Death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate.” (Ambrose Bierce) Your will (“Last Will and Testament”) will always be the keystone of your estate planning, and a recent High Court decision sounds yet another warning to beware the “do your own will” concept. By not having his will drawn by a professional, a father inadvertently caused one of his children to be disqualified from inheriting her intended share, whilst her husband was disqualified from being appointed as

Exemption Clauses and Thieving Employees: Can You Sue (or Be Sued)?

“Where one of the parties wishes to be absolved either wholly or partially from an obligation or liability which would or could arise at common law under a contract of the kind which the parties intend to conclude, it is for that party to ensure that the extent to which he, she or it is to be absolved is plainly spelt out.” (Extract from judgment below) Employee theft has been a headache for employers from the dawn of history, and no

What Can You Do When Someone Close to You Has No Control Over Their Spending?

“A prodigal is a person who, through some defect of character or will, squanders his or her assets with such abandon that he or she threatens to reduce himself or herself and/or her dependents to destitution” (extract from judgment below) What can you do when someone you know (often but not always an elderly relative and/or someone with a gambling, drug or drink problem) starts squandering their money and property irresponsibly and recklessly? Note that we are talking here not about a

Your Website of the Month: The 9 Key Points of Making a Difficult Decision

“Avoiding a decision is itself a decision … probably the wrong one” Decisions, decisions – we spend our days making them, most of them minor but every now and then a really big, important one comes along. Perhaps it’s something like “Should I resign my 9-to-5 and start up that artisanal bakery business I’ve always dreamed of?” or “Should we sell up and move to the coast?” or even “Should we list on the JSE?”. Whatever difficult decision may be looming over

Monthly Archives: March 2022

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