Married Persons (Separate Legal Status) Act 2019 (SA)

South Australia Married Persons (Separate Legal Status) Act 2019 An Act to provide for the separate legal status of married persons and to make related amendments to the Law of Property Act 1936.

Contents Part 1—Preliminary 1 Short title 2 Commencement Part 2—Separate legal status of married persons 3 Married person has legal capacity as if not married 4 Married person entitled to criminal and civil redress in respect of property 5 Married person has no authority to act as agent for spouse 6 Married person not liable for debts of spouse incurred before marriage 7 Housekeeping payments and allowances taken to be joint property Part 3—Miscellaneous 8 Regulations Schedule 1—Related amendments Part 1—Preliminary 1 Amendment provisions Part 2—Amendment to Law of Property Act 1936 2 Amendment of section 40—Conveyances by a person to self etc 3 Amendment of section 42—Covenants for title 4 Amendment of section 82—Request by infant or person under disability 5 Repeal of sections 92 to 99 6 Repeal of sections 101 to 107 7 Amendment of section 108—Interpretation of terms 8 Repeal of section 109 9 Repeal of section 111 Legislative history

The Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows: Part 1—Preliminary 1—Short title This Act may be cited as the Married Persons (Separate Legal Status) Act 2019. 2—Commencement This Act comes into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

Part 2—Separate legal status of married persons 3—Married person has legal capacity as if not married (1) A married person— (a) has legal capacity for all purposes as if the person were not married; and (b) has a legal personality that is independent, separate and distinct from that of the person's spouse. (2) Nothing in this Act affects the generality of subsection (1). 4—Married person entitled to criminal and civil redress in respect of property A married person is entitled to civil and criminal redress (as the case may be) against the person's spouse for the protection of their property as if the person were not married. 5—Married person has no authority to act as agent for spouse Subject to any other law or agreement to the contrary, a married person does not, by reason only of the person's status as a spouse, have the authority to pledge the credit of, or to act as an agent for, the person's spouse. 6—Married person not liable for debts of spouse incurred before marriage Subject to any agreement to the contrary, a married person is not liable for any debt incurred by the person's spouse before their marriage. 7—Housekeeping payments and allowances taken to be joint property If a married person makes a payment or gives an allowance to the person's spouse to pay their joint household expenses (or for similar purposes), any property bought with the payment or allowance and any money not spent from the payment or allowance is, in the absence of an agreement to the contrary between the person and the person's spouse, taken to be the joint property of the person and the person's spouse.