Free Legal Advice For Life

Here are a few general legal tips everyone should know about

• Whenever you want to lend someone a sum of money or something which you will want to recover from them, it is important for you to ensure that your debtor signs an Acknowledgment of Debt prepared by a lawyer.
• Should you want to appoint an Agent to act on your behalf in terms of a Power of Attorney, it is advisable for you to have a Special Power of Attorney drawn up instead of a General Power of Attorney.  The difference between the two is that a General Power of Attorney gives the Agent wide ranging powers which are subject to abuse whereas a Special Power of Attorney defines the extent of the Agent’s authority.
• Before a new tenant moves into your property you need to get them to sign a Lease Agreement drawn up by a lawyer.
• You have a legal right to change your surname. If you are still below 18 years of age you need the consent of your guardian to do this.
• Every person has inherent dignity in their private and public life, and the right to have that dignity protected and respected.
• Every person has the right to privacy including the right to not have their person, house or premises searched.
• No person may be compelled to belong to an association or to attend a meeting or gathering.
• No person may be evicted from their home, or have their home demolished, without an order of Court.
• When it comes to the Sale of immovable property, it is the seller’s legal right to appoint the lawyer (conveyancer) who will attend to the property transfer.
• If you are buying or selling anything of significant value, you are advised to engage the services of a lawyer to draw up a Sale Agreement for you.  A good Sale Agreement will correctly capture the full names and contact details of the parties, the subject matter of the sale, the purchase price, how the purchase price will be paid and what will happen in the event of a breach.
• Where you are to sign a Sale Agreement, you should never part with money before you sign the Sale Agreement.
• Never sign any document before reading and understanding same.
• Avoid signing a document which contains blank spaces to be filled in later.
• Always retain a copy of whatever document you sign.
• If the document that you are signing contains more than one page, please ensure that you initial the rest of the pages and sign the last page.

Kanokanga & Partners