We hear a lot nowadays about the importance of avoiding a conflict of interest, and a recent court case illustrates, somewhat dramatically, the effects of an unresolved conflict. This case is Elena van Niekerk v Kathleen van Niekerk and the Master of the High Court 2011 (2) SA 145 (KZP). Mr Basil van Niekerk divorced his wife Kathleen in 1987, and in 2005 travelled to Russia where he married Elena Karipova in Volgograd according to Russian law. Returning to South Africa, the couple got married in 2008 under SA law by ante-nuptial contract. Read on