{"id":43135,"date":"2025-09-15T10:39:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T08:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stbb.co.za\/dev2\/?p=43135"},"modified":"2025-09-25T22:57:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T20:57:12","slug":"newsflash-concourt-rules-husbands-can-take-their-wives-surnames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stbb.co.za\/dev2\/newsflash-concourt-rules-husbands-can-take-their-wives-surnames\/","title":{"rendered":"Newsflash | ConCourt rules husbands can take their wives\u2019 surnames"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a resounding win for gender equality, the ConCourt has unanimously declared that certain provisions of the Births and Deaths Registration Act (\u2018the Act\u2019) are unconstitutional for failing to allow men to assume their wives\u2019 surnames after marriage.<\/p>\n<p>Following a seminal High Court ruling in 2024, the ConCourt in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/stbb.co.za\/dev2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Newsflash_Case296-24_Heard4March2025-Decided11September2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>Jordaan v Minister of Home Affairs<\/u><\/a><\/em> was tasked with confirming the constitutional invalidity of section 26(1) of the Act and regulation 18(2)(a) of the Regulations. Critically, section 26(1) limits surname changes to the following instances:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A woman may assume her spouse\u2019s surname after marriage;<\/li>\n<li>A married, divorced, or widowed woman may resume a previous surname; or<\/li>\n<li>A woman \u2013 whether married, widowed, or divorced \u2013 may add a previous surname to her marital surname.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Regulation 18(2)(a) expressly confirms that one reason for assuming another surname must concern \u2018a change in the marital status of a woman\u2019. In light of these gendered provisions, the two couples at the centre of the case argued that current law discriminates against men on the basis of gender by preventing them from assuming their wives\u2019 surnames.<\/p>\n<p>In a progressive and considered judgment, the ConCourt assessed the socio-historical context of women assuming their husbands\u2019 surnames post-marriage and applied the two-stage test set out in <em>Harksen v Lane<\/em> to determine whether the impugned provisions violate the constitutional right to equality. Finding that differentiating between men and women in this context serves no legitimate government purpose, the Court confirmed that section 26(1) unfairly discriminates against men in heterosexual marriages and is thus invalid.<\/p>\n<p>Significantly, the ConCourt recognised the \u2018insidious\u2019 impact of these limitations on women, which have reinscribed patriarchal norms and denied them the right to have their surnames serve as the family name.<\/p>\n<p>While Parliament has 24 months to remedy the defect, the Court ordered an interim reading in of \u2018persons\u2019 and \u2018spouses\u2019 under section 26(1) of the Act in place of gendered terms such as \u2018wives\u2019 and \u2018husbands\u2019. This interim solution, which adopts the gender-neutral language of the Civil Union Act, will prevent further unfair discrimination pending legislative amendments. Importantly, it allows men to immediately adopt their wives\u2019 surnames.<\/p>\n<p>In need of expert legal assistance? STBB\u2019s team of attorneys, conveyancers, and notaries have the skills and experience to handle your legal matter with ease. Contact us at <a href=\"mailto:info@stbb.co.za?Subject=Newsflash%20ConCourt%20rules%20husbands%20can%20take%20their%20wives%20surnames%20enquiry\"><u>info@stbb.co.za<\/u><\/a> today.<\/p>\n<p style=\"line-height: 1.25\"><em><span style=\"color: #787878\"><span style=\"font-size: 11px\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif\">This content is the property of STBB. We encourage the sharing of our content for informational purposes. However, if you wish to copy or reproduce our content on your own platform or website, please ensure that proper credit is given to STBB.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a resounding win for gender equality, the ConCourt has unanimously declared that certain provisions of the Births and Deaths Registration Act (\u2018the Act\u2019) are unconstitutional for failing to allow men to assume their wives\u2019 surnames after marriage. Following a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":364,"featured_media":43136,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[102,98,93,137,108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-published-divorce-child-and-family-law","category-articles-published-litigation-and-dispute-resolution","category-articles-published-property-law-and-conveyancing","category-latest","category-newsflash"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Newsflash | ConCourt rules husbands can take their wives\u2019 surnames - STBB<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Constitutional Court confirms men can legally take their wives\u2019 surnames. A landmark for equality in South Africa.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/stbb.co.za\/dev2\/newsflash-concourt-rules-husbands-can-take-their-wives-surnames\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Samantha Smith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/newsflash-concourt-rules-husbands-can-take-their-wives-surnames\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/newsflash-concourt-rules-husbands-can-take-their-wives-surnames\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Samantha Smith\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/805b4884d2d0620da8c730a20588b52a\"},\"headline\":\"Newsflash | ConCourt rules husbands can take their wives\u2019 surnames\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-15T08:39:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-25T20:57:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/newsflash-concourt-rules-husbands-can-take-their-wives-surnames\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":430,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/newsflash-concourt-rules-husbands-can-take-their-wives-surnames\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/HeaderNewsflash15September2025.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Articles Published - Divorce, Child and Family Law\",\"Articles Published - Litigation and Dispute Resolution\",\"Articles Published - Property Law and Conveyancing\",\"Latest\",\"Newsflash\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/newsflash-concourt-rules-husbands-can-take-their-wives-surnames\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/newsflash-concourt-rules-husbands-can-take-their-wives-surnames\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsflash | ConCourt rules husbands can take their wives\u2019 surnames - STBB\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/newsflash-concourt-rules-husbands-can-take-their-wives-surnames\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/newsflash-concourt-rules-husbands-can-take-their-wives-surnames\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/stbb.co.za\\\/dev2\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/HeaderNewsflash15September2025.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-15T08:39:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-25T20:57:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Constitutional Court confirms men can legally take their wives\u2019 surnames. 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