The treatment of property acquired during marriage is governed by the Matrimonial Property Act.

The Act sets out the distinction between matrimonial property and personal property. Matrimonial property refers to assets acquired during the marriage while personal property refers to assets owned by either spouse before the marriage or acquired individually during the marriage.

Matrimonial property is subject to specific legal provisions aimed at ensuring equitable distribution in case of divorce or death of one spouse. Fairness is applied and factors such as contributions made by each spouse to the acquisition of assets, duration of the marriage as well as welfare of the children are considered.

Personal property remains the sole possession of the person who acquired it, unless there are agreements stating otherwise.

The Matrimonial Property Act safeguards the legal separation of property before or after marriage. Matrimonial property and personal property differ in that matrimonial property vests it's ownership in the spouses according to the contribution of either spouse towards it's acquisition and in a case where the marriage is dissolved the property is divided between the spouses. Parties also have equal rights at the time of marriage, during the marriage and at the dissolution of the marriage. Matrimonial property reaffirms the importance of the principle of fairness and equity .
Personal property refers to any property that belonged to the spouse before marriage or acquired individually during the marriage unless the parties agree otherwise.