Aylin Acar

An ordered index of every guide we have written on Family law in the Netherlands.

Someone close to you has died in the Netherlands, or you are planning your own estate here. You need to know who is entitled to what, and what to do before a deadline passes. Dutch succession law sits in Book 4 of the Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek, BW). It gives a surviving spouse a strong

The Dutch registered partnership (geregistreerd partnerschap) is close to marriage in almost every legal respect, but it ends differently. Without minor children it can be terminated without ever seeing a judge; with them, the court route is compulsory. This article sets out both routes, the property, pension and maintenance consequences, and the international complications that

If you married in the Netherlands on or after 1 January 2018 without signing a notarial agreement, you are married in a limited community of property (beperkte gemeenschap van goederen). The question is always the same: which assets are shared, which stayed yours alone, and what must you prove if the marriage ends? This article

Almost every question we get from internationals about divorce in the Netherlands starts with the same one: what will this cost? There is no single answer, because a Dutch divorce is not a product with a price tag. It is a bundle of separate costs — a lawyer, a court fee, sometimes a bailiff, a

If you are separating in the Netherlands and have children under 18, Dutch law does not let you settle the practicalities later. In most cases a written parenting plan must be signed and filed with the court before the divorce can proceed at all. This guide covers what the plan is, who must produce one,

Search for a “child support calculator” for the Netherlands and you will find tools that produce a figure in thirty seconds. None mention that the figure has no direct statutory basis. Dutch law says only that parents must contribute to the cost of their children according to their means; the arithmetic comes from guidelines drawn

Dutch law distinguishes sharply between a child’s biological parent and its legal parent. Only legal parentage (afstamming) creates the family-law relationship carrying maintenance duties, inheritance rights, surname rules and, since 2023, parental authority. For internationals the Dutch rules are not those of your home country, and a document that works abroad does not always work

Islamic marriage divorce raises many questions in the Netherlands: a nikah can have legal consequences, but not always in the way most people expect. Only when a civil marriage has also taken place does the marriage count in full under Dutch law, with all the rights and obligations that come with it. If there is

A divorce brings a great deal of uncertainty. While the proceedings are still ongoing, practical decisions often cannot wait. Who stays in the family home for now? How are the costs divided? What happens with the children? And what if the situation at home has become tense or even unsafe? For these urgent questions, the

A top family law firm in the Netherlands is one that runs Dutch family law as a core practice rather than a sideline, handles cross-border cases as routine work, and sets out its fees before the file is opened. Dutch family proceedings have their own procedural rules and their own body of case law, so

An LGBTIQ+ divorce in the Netherlands is governed by exactly the same law as any other divorce: the same grounds, the same procedure before the same court, and the same rules on property, maintenance, pension equalisation and children. Where these cases differ is not in the rules but in the facts. Family formation through donor

A high-net-worth divorce in the Netherlands is decided under Book 1 of the Burgerlijk Wetboek, but three questions determine the financial outcome that ordinary cases rarely raise: which matrimonial property regime applies, what the business interests and pension entitlements are worth, and which country’s law governs the division. Business valuations, real estate portfolios, assets held

Choosing a family law firm for a complex divorce in the Netherlands comes down to three things: whether the firm handles family law as a core practice rather than as a sideline, whether it can deal in-house with whatever makes the case complex, and whether it can work in a language the client actually understands.

A divorce in the Netherlands can only be started by a lawyer: the court will not accept a petition for divorce or for dissolution of a registered partnership unless a lawyer files it. Where the couple have minor children, a parenting plan must be filed with the petition. Beyond that formality, the work consists of

When you separate and divorce, a great deal comes your way at once. One of the first documents you will have to deal with is the divorce settlement agreement (echtscheidingsconvenant). In this article you will read exactly what this document covers, when you need it and how to arrange it step by step – from

When a relationship ends, we often assume that the hardest period is behind us once the divorce has been pronounced. With coercive control, the picture is different. It is precisely the moment of leaving that can be the most dangerous phase. In this blog we explain what coercive control is, why it is something fundamentally

Reaching the Dutch state pension (AOW) age marks a significant financial milestone, bringing changes to your income, taxes, and daily routine. For divorced individuals paying or receiving partner alimony, this transition frequently raises a critical legal question regarding their ongoing financial obligations. Many people assume that spousal maintenance automatically stops the moment the recipient or

Child maintenance in a blended family is worked out by first establishing what each child needs and then dividing the financial capacity, or draagkracht, of everyone who is legally obliged to contribute. Several people can owe maintenance at the same time: both legal parents of a child, and a stepparent who is married to or

A high-conflict divorce becomes a matter for the Dutch children’s court (kinderrechter) as soon as one parent asks the court to decide a dispute they cannot settle themselves, and it becomes a child protection matter when the conflict itself seriously threatens the child’s development and voluntary help has not resolved it. Those are two different