Articles 6 and 7 - Rights Related to Marriage 230 In Malawi, the law guarantees a woman’s property rights upon celebrating a marriage. A woman is wholly entitled to the property she independently acquires before and during the substance of the marriage. The Constitution recognises in Sections 24 and 28 that a woman can, during the subsistence of a marriage, acquire, own or hold property, either singly or collectively, to the exclusion of the other spouse. The Courts have recognised that neither Section 24 nor Section 28 of the Constitution makes it automatic that, upon, during or after marriage, property belonging to either spouse be regarded as jointly held. (Kagwira v Kagwira (HC/PR Appeal Case No. 24 of 2012 (unreported)). Section 24 of the Constitution therefore invariably protects the property rights of women during the subsistence of the marriage. 231 The property rights of women are adequately protected on the dissolution of the marriage. Section 24 (1 ) (b) (i) of the Constitution grants women the right, on the dissolution of marriage, to a fair disposition of property that is held jointly with the husband. The protection applies to every form of marriage regardless of how it was contracted (Rachel Sophie Sikwese Vs. Gracian Zibelu Banda; MSCA Civil Appeal No. 76 of 2015). Where a judicial separation has been decreed under the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act (MDFRA) , the spouses shall, from the date of the decree, and whilst the separation continues, be considered unmarried with respect to any property which each spouse may acquire individually during the period of separation and such property may be disposed of by each spouse individually in all respects as if he or she was not married to the other. 232 Under Section 48 (2) of the MDFRA, a wife is entitled to retain her maiden name or to use the surname of her husband, or both, during the subsistence of the marriage. If she prefers, she is entitled the continued use of the surname of her husband at the dissolution of the marriage, unless it is proved before a court that she used the name for an improper purpose or a fraudulent motive. 97