82.     Antenuptial contracts to be registered

            An antenuptial contract executed before and not registered at the commencement of this Act, or executed after the commencement of this Act, shall be registered in the manner and within the time mentioned in section 83 and unless so registered shall be of no force or effect as against any person who is not a party thereto.

83.     Manner and time of registration of antenuptial contracts

            (1) An antenuptial contract executed in Botswana shall not be registered unless it has been attested by a notary public and unless it has been tendered for registration in the deeds registry within two months after the date of its execution or within such extended period as the court may on application allow.

            (2) An antenuptial contract executed elsewhere outside Botswana shall not be registered unless it has been attested by a notary public or has been otherwise entered into in accordance with the law of the place of execution and unless it has been tendered for registration in the deeds registry within six months after the date of its execution or the commencement of this Act, whichever may be the later date, or within such extended period as the court may on application allow.

            (3) Unless an antenuptial contract has been tendered for registration in terms of subsection (1) or (2), or if so tendered and rejected by the Registrar and not re-tendered within the respective periods prescribed in the said subsections, the contract shall not be registered except upon an order of court and within such further period as the court may direct:

            Provided that if the Registrar suspends or refuses registration pending the submission of further information in order to enable him to determine whether any party to the contract is or is not a person whose name appears in any register or document in the deeds registry, such suspension or refusal of registration shall not be deemed to be a rejection of the contract.

            (4) A signed original contract (or an equivalent thereof according to the law of the country where it was executed) bearing the attestation of the notary public or otherwise duly authenticated as required by law, for filing of record as the registry duplicate, and a further signed original, similarly attested or authenticated, or a grosse or a copy of the original contract certified by a notary public, shall be tendered for registration.

            (5) For the purposes of this section an antenuptial contract executed at Mafeking immediately before the commencement of this Act shall within Botswana be deemed to have been executed within Botswana.

84.     Postnuptial execution of antenuptial agreement

            Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 82 and 83 the court may, subject to such conditions as it may deem desirable, authorize postnuptial execution of a notarial contract having the effect of an antenuptial contract, if the terms thereof were agreed upon between the intended spouses before the marriage, and may order the registration, within a specified period, of any contract so executed.