What happens to our jointly registered house in a Zimbabwean divorce?

Where a property is jointly owned, the Zimbabwean courts in a divorce will generally under section 7 of the Matrimonial Causes Act [Chapter 5:13] divide, apportion and distribute the house as per the title deed i.e., 50/50. see Takafuma v Takafuma 1994 (2) ZLR 103 (S).

In Zimbabwe, joint registration of a house lays the foundation for equality upon the granting of a divorce, unless the facts of the case dictate otherwise. The court generally will not divide, apportion or distribute property owned in equal shares on the mere grounds that it would be fair and reasonable, or just and equitable, to do so. It would be a more solid foundation in law than that. see Lafontant v Kennedy 2000 (2) ZLR 280 (S) 284.

Where a husband and a wife own a house in Zimbabwe in undivided shares, there exists a rebuttable assumption that they own it in equal shares. In order to take a spouse’s share and transfer it to another, there ought to be some solid and legal basis for doing so. see Kanoyangwa v Kanoyangwa 2011 (1) ZLR 90 (H).