In the Netherlands, both parents must pay child maintenance until the child turns 21, and a former spouse or registered partner who cannot support themselves may claim spousal maintenance, usually for at most five years. The amount depends only on the need of the person entitled and the other party’s ability to pay; who caused the break-up plays no role.
The rules are in Book 1 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW) and are applied by the family courts. Below we explain the two forms of alimony (alimentatie), how the amounts are calculated, how long spousal maintenance lasts under the rules in force since 1 January 2020, when an arrangement can be changed, and what you can do if payments stop. We also deal with situations that cross a border.
Which two forms of alimony exist?
Dutch law distinguishes child maintenance (kinderalimentatie) from spousal maintenance (partneralimentatie). Both are based on need and ability to pay, but they have different legal bases, calculations and durations.
The court usually decides both in the same divorce proceedings, which is why they are often confused. Legally, they are separate obligations, and one can exist without the other. Spousal maintenance supports the former partner; child maintenance covers the costs of the children.
| Child maintenance | Spousal maintenance | |
|---|---|---|
| Owed by | Both parents, and in some cases a step-parent | The former spouse or registered partner |
| Legal basis | Articles 1:392, 1:395, 1:395a and 1:404 BW | Articles 1:157 and 1:158 BW |
| Duration | Until the child turns 21 | As a rule at most five years |
| Depends on marriage? | No, it follows from parenthood | Yes, only after a marriage or registered partnership |
| Income tax | Not deductible | Deductible for the payer, taxed for the recipient |
One point surprises many unmarried couples: there is no spousal maintenance after cohabitation. If you lived together without marrying or registering a partnership, neither of you can claim maintenance for yourself, however long the relationship lasted, unless you agreed otherwise in a cohabitation agreement. Child maintenance, by contrast, is owed whether or not the parents were ever married.
Who must pay child maintenance?
Both parents must contribute to the costs of care and upbringing of their minor children, in proportion to their means (Article 1:404 BW). The obligation follows from parenthood, not from the relationship between the parents.
The obligation does not end because one parent rarely sees the child. For young adults aged 18 to 21, it continues under Article 1:395a BW as a contribution to living and study costs. At that age, the young adult can claim the contribution in their own name.
A step-parent who is married to, or in a registered partnership with, a parent can also be liable under Article 1:395 BW, if the child belongs to their shared household. That obligation lasts only as long as the marriage or partnership.
How is child maintenance calculated?
The courts use the guidelines of the Expert Group on Maintenance Standards (Expertgroep Alimentatienormen), published every year and known as the Trema standards. The calculation has three steps.
- The child’s needs. The starting point is the family’s net income before the separation, converted into a monthly cost of the child using tables based on figures from the national budget institute Nibud. The principle is that a child should not bear the financial consequences of the separation.
- Each parent’s ability to pay. Each parent’s net disposable income is reduced by an allowance for their own basic living costs, and a fixed percentage of the rest counts as ability to pay. The costs of the child are then divided between the parents in proportion to their ability to pay.
- The care discount. The parent with whom the child does not mainly live incurs costs on contact days. This is taken into account through a care discount (zorgkorting): a percentage deducted from that parent’s contribution, depending on the number of days per week the child spends with them.
We explain the calculation in more detail, with an example, in our guide to calculating child maintenance in the Netherlands.
When does child maintenance end?
At the age of 21. It can end earlier if the child becomes financially independent, and it can be increased or reduced in the meantime if a parent’s income changes substantially.
It does not end because the paying parent has lost contact with the child, and a new relationship of either parent does not end it either. A new partner’s income can, however, indirectly affect the calculation of ability to pay.
When are you entitled to spousal maintenance?
When you do not have enough income to support yourself and cannot reasonably be expected to earn it, and your former spouse can afford to pay (Article 1:157 BW). If either condition is missing, no spousal maintenance is owed.
The same rules apply when a registered partnership ends. Anglo-American categories such as temporary, rehabilitative or permanent alimony do not exist in Dutch law.
Need is assessed against the standard of living during the marriage, not against a subsistence minimum. A spouse who worked part-time for years so that the other could build a career is not expected to become self-supporting overnight. The court does expect a real effort, however. A former partner who could work but does not may have their need assessed on the income they could earn rather than the income they actually receive.
How is spousal maintenance calculated?
The courts usually start from a rule of thumb: the need of the former partner is set at 60 percent of the net family income during the marriage, after deducting the costs of the children. That figure is then tested against the applicant’s own income and the payer’s ability to pay.
The payer’s ability to pay is calculated after child maintenance has been taken into account, because child maintenance always takes priority over spousal maintenance. A final check, the income comparison (jusvergelijking), compares what each former spouse has left. Spousal maintenance should not leave the recipient better off than the payer. If the calculation would produce that result, the amount is reduced.
How long does spousal maintenance last?
For divorces from 1 January 2020, the main rule is half the length of the marriage, with a maximum of five years. This follows from the Partner Maintenance Reform Act (Wet herziening partneralimentatie).
There are exceptions that extend the term. If more than one applies, the longest term applies.
- Young children. If you have a child together who is under 12, spousal maintenance continues until the youngest child turns 12.
- A long marriage close to retirement. If the marriage or registered partnership lasted more than 15 years and the recipient will reach the state pension age (AOW) within 10 years, maintenance continues until that age.
- A long marriage, recipient born on or before 1 January 1970. If the marriage lasted more than 15 years and the recipient will reach state pension age more than 10 years after the Act entered into force, the term is 10 years. This transitional rule lapses seven years after the Act entered into force, on 1 January 2027. If your case may fall under it, have your position checked before then.
Can the term be extended?
Yes, but only in exceptional cases. The court can set a longer term if ending maintenance on the normal date would be so drastic that continuing payment cannot in fairness be denied to the recipient (Article 1:157 BW).
Situations in which an extension may be granted include serious financial hardship, poor health, or an age at which a return to work is unrealistic. The request must be filed within three months after the statutory term has ended. After that, the entitlement is lost.
What if you divorced before 1 January 2020?
The new rules do not apply retroactively. If spousal maintenance was set or agreed before 1 January 2020, the old rules continue to apply.
Under the old rules, the maximum term is twelve years. For a marriage of no more than five years without children, the term equals the length of the marriage. Arrangements made before 1 July 1994 fall under even older rules. If you are approaching the end of a twelve-year term, seek advice in good time, because a request for extension is subject to the same strict deadline.
Can you exclude spousal maintenance in a prenuptial agreement?
In general, no. Under Article 1:158 BW, spouses can make binding agreements about spousal maintenance before or at the divorce, and the courts do not accept a waiver made in a prenuptial agreement (huwelijkse voorwaarden) that was not made with a divorce in view.
A prenuptial agreement does determine how assets are divided, and that division affects the calculation of need and ability to pay. It cannot, however, simply switch off the maintenance obligation in advance.
Does alimony increase every year?
Yes. Alimony amounts are adjusted by law on 1 January each year (Article 1:402a BW), by a percentage set annually by the Minister of Justice and Security based on wage developments. The current percentage is published on the government website.
The increase is automatic: it applies whether or not the court order mentions it and whether or not either party takes action. The only way to avoid it is to exclude indexation expressly in a maintenance agreement. In practice, a significant part of alimony arrears consists of indexation that was never paid.
How is alimony taxed?
Spousal maintenance is deductible for the payer and taxed as income for the recipient, both in box 1 of the income tax return. Child maintenance is not deductible.
The payer’s deduction is limited to the rate of the first income tax bracket, so for higher earners the tax benefit is lower than their top rate. For the recipient, spousal maintenance is taxable income, which means the net amount received is lower than the gross amount in the court order. A lump sum that buys out spousal maintenance is treated the same way in the year it is paid, and can push the recipient into a higher bracket. The deduction for the costs of children was abolished on 1 January 2015. For your personal tax position, consult a tax adviser.
Can you change or end alimony?
Yes, if circumstances have changed so that the amount no longer meets the statutory standards, or if the arrangement was based on incorrect or incomplete information (Article 1:401 BW). Examples are redundancy, a new job, illness, a child moving to the other parent or the birth of another child.
A change is not automatic. You need a court decision or new written agreements with the other party. Until then, the existing amount remains payable.
What is a non-variation clause?
Former spouses can agree in a divorce settlement that the amount of spousal maintenance cannot be changed (Article 1:159 BW). Such a clause is binding, and it is a common source of later regret.
The court can set the clause aside only if circumstances have changed so drastically that holding the other party to it would be contrary to reasonableness and fairness (Article 1:159(3) BW). That threshold is high, and an ordinary drop in income does not meet it. A non-variation clause cannot be agreed for child maintenance.
When does spousal maintenance end automatically?
When the recipient remarries, enters into a registered partnership, or lives with someone else as if they were married or in a registered partnership (Article 1:160 BW). The entitlement then ends permanently and does not revive if the new relationship ends.
Cohabitation is the most disputed of these grounds. The case law requires a lasting affective relationship, a shared household and mutual care. Spousal maintenance also ends when either former spouse dies, unless the divorce settlement provides otherwise.
What can you do if alimony is not paid?
A court order for alimony can be enforced directly. If payments stop, a bailiff can seize wages, a bank account or other assets without new court proceedings.
You can also ask the National Maintenance Collection Agency (Landelijk Bureau Inning Onderhoudsbijdragen, LBIO) to collect child or spousal maintenance on your behalf. This is free of charge for the recipient, subject to the LBIO’s conditions for taking on a case, such as how old the arrears may be. Check those conditions early, because waiting too long can limit what the LBIO can collect for you.
If you pay and your income has genuinely fallen, ask the court to change the amount under Article 1:401 BW instead of simply paying less. Reducing payments on your own does not reduce the debt; it only builds up arrears, with interest.
What if alimony crosses a border?
A move abroad does not end an alimony obligation. Within the EU, the Maintenance Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 4/2009) governs which court has jurisdiction and how decisions are recognised and enforced.
As a rule, the Regulation allows the person entitled to maintenance to start proceedings in the country where they habitually live. A decision from one member state can be enforced in another without an intermediate procedure. The applicable law follows from the 2007 Hague Protocol, which in principle points to the law of the country where the person entitled to maintenance habitually lives.
In an international family, establish at the outset which court has jurisdiction and which law applies. Those two questions often affect the amount more than any calculation. Our guide to divorce in the Netherlands explains the wider procedure of which the alimony decision forms part.
In summary
- Child maintenance is owed by both parents until the child turns 21, whether or not they were married.
- Spousal maintenance exists only after a marriage or registered partnership and depends on need and ability to pay.
- Since 1 January 2020, spousal maintenance usually lasts half the length of the marriage, with a maximum of five years, subject to exceptions.
- Amounts are indexed every year, and a change of circumstances can justify a new amount by agreement or court order.
- If payments stop, a bailiff or the LBIO can collect the arrears.
Frequently asked questions about alimony
How does alimony work in the Netherlands?
Alimony is based on need and ability to pay, never on fault. The court establishes what the child or former partner needs and what the payer can afford, and sets a monthly amount. Child maintenance runs until the child turns 21; spousal maintenance usually runs for half the length of the marriage, with a maximum of five years.
Am I entitled to spousal maintenance?
Only if you were married or in a registered partnership, and only if you cannot support yourself from your own income and cannot reasonably be expected to do so. There is no entitlement after unmarried cohabitation, unless a cohabitation agreement provides for it.
Can alimony be bought out with a lump sum?
Spousal maintenance can be settled with a lump sum if both parties agree. That ends the monthly payments, but it has income tax consequences for both sides in the year of payment, so calculate the net effect first. Child maintenance cannot validly be waived in this way.
Does alimony stop if my former partner has a new relationship?
Spousal maintenance ends by law if your former partner remarries, enters a registered partnership or lives with someone as if married. A relationship that does not meet those criteria does not end the obligation, although it may be relevant in a request to change the amount. Child maintenance is not affected.
Can the court change an amount we agreed ourselves?
Yes. An agreement on alimony can be changed under the same rules as a court order, unless you validly agreed a non-variation clause for spousal maintenance. For child maintenance, such a clause is not possible.
Advice from our family lawyers
Alimony decisions last for years and are difficult to reverse, especially where a non-variation clause applies. The family lawyers of Law & More advise and litigate on child and spousal maintenance, including international cases, from our offices in Eindhoven and Amsterdam. You can arrange an intake meeting or read more about our family law practice.
Unsure where you stand? Tell us about your situation. We will let you know your options within one working day.
How Law & More can help you with this is explained on our divorce lawyer page.
