Ending a marriage in the Netherlands is, as a rule, a court matter. Dissolution requires a petition filed by a lawyer, a decision of the court and, finally, registration of that decision in the records of the civil registry. There is no statutory separation period that must elapse before the petition can be filed, and no requirement to prove that either spouse was at fault. Around that core sit the arrangements that usually matter most in practice: the children, the family home, the pension, the maintenance and the division of what the two of you own.
Which rules apply in a particular case depends on nationality, habitual residence, the date and place of the marriage, the matrimonial property regime, the presence of children and any international element. What follows describes the general framework of divorce in the Netherlands, the procedure from beginning to end, and the points that deserve particular attention if one or both spouses are not Dutch.
Key points at a glance
- Only a Dutch court can dissolve a marriage; there is no purely administrative divorce.
- The petition must be filed by an advocaat, even where both spouses fully agree.
- Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage is the only ground; fault does not have to be proved.
- There is no minimum duration of marriage and no required period of separation before filing.
- A joint petition is quicker and cheaper and usually needs no hearing; a unilateral petition does.
- A parenting plan is required where there are minor children under joint parental authority.
- Marriages from 1 January 2018 fall under a limited community of property; earlier marriages under the general community, unless prenuptial conditions were agreed.
- The divorce takes effect only on registration in the register of marriages, which must follow within six months of the decision becoming final.
The legal ground for divorce under Dutch law
Dutch divorce law recognises a single ground: the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, known in Dutch as duurzame ontwrichting. Article 1:151 of the Dutch Civil Code describes this as a situation in which the marriage has broken down to such an extent that continuing to live together can no longer reasonably be expected. The Netherlands operates a no-fault system, which means that adultery, financial mismanagement or a difficult character do not have to be established in order to obtain the divorce itself. Conduct during the marriage may nevertheless be relevant to the matters decided alongside it, such as maintenance, the arrangements for the children, the division of assets and questions of evidence.
In practice the threshold is low. Where one spouse maintains that the marriage has broken down, the court will not normally require proof of a specific incident, and a divorce is therefore rarely prevented by an unwilling spouse. The court does still examine the petition and any procedural objections raised against it. What a reluctant spouse can realistically do is contest the consequences, which is what turns a divorce into a lengthy and expensive exercise rather than an impossible one.
Who can file for divorce in the Netherlands
Jurisdiction is determined by European law, specifically Regulation 2019/1111, generally referred to as Brussels II-ter. Article 3 sets out a number of alternative grounds. The Dutch courts have jurisdiction, among other situations, where both spouses are habitually resident in the Netherlands, where the respondent lives here, where the spouses last lived here together and one of them still does, where the petitioner has lived here for at least a year immediately before filing, or where a petitioner holding Dutch nationality has lived here for six months. Common nationality of both spouses is a separate ground, which means two Dutch nationals can divorce here even if neither of them lives in the Netherlands.
The place where the marriage was celebrated is not in itself a ground of jurisdiction, and a marriage concluded abroad can perfectly well be dissolved by a Dutch court. Where the Regulation does not apply because no Member State has jurisdiction under it, the residual Dutch rules of procedure determine whether a Dutch court can hear the case.
Jurisdiction and applicable law are separate questions. Under Regulation 1259/2010, known as Rome III, spouses may agree in writing on the law governing their divorce; in the absence of such a choice the law of their common habitual residence normally applies. A Dutch court will therefore in most cases apply Dutch divorce law to a couple living in the Netherlands, whatever their nationality. The law applicable to matrimonial property, pensions and maintenance is determined by different instruments and may well be the law of another country, so the outcome on the money can differ from the outcome on the divorce itself. The particular difficulties of a cross-border case are set out in our article on international divorce in the Netherlands.
Joint petition or unilateral petition
There are two routes to the same outcome. In a joint petition, the spouses reach agreement together, either through a single lawyer acting for both of them or through a divorce mediator, and file one petition accompanied by a signed settlement agreement. Mediation is a way of negotiating rather than a substitute for the procedure: whatever is agreed should be reviewed legally before it is signed, and the petition itself must in all cases be filed by an advocaat. Because nothing is in dispute, there is usually no hearing and the court decides on the papers.
In a unilateral petition, one spouse files and the other is formally served. The respondent may accept the petition, in which case matters can still be settled quickly, or file a statement of defence and, within the limits set by the rules of procedure, put forward counter-requests concerning maintenance, the children or the division of assets. The court will then schedule a hearing. If arrangements are needed while the proceedings run, provisional measures can be requested regarding the use of the home, temporary maintenance and where the children will live.
The divorce procedure step by step
The first step is a consultation with a divorce lawyer, who assesses jurisdiction and applicable law and advises on the route to take. It helps to bring identification, the marriage certificate, the birth certificates of any children, recent income documents, an overview of assets and debts, and any prenuptial conditions. On the basis of that material the choice between a joint and a unilateral petition can be made.
The petition is then drafted and, in a joint procedure, accompanied by the settlement agreement and the parenting plan. It is filed with the district court of the place where the petitioner lives; there are eleven district courts in the Netherlands. The court fee is set by the government and indexed annually, with a reduced rate for those on a low income.
Once the petition has been filed, the respondent in a unilateral case is given a period, normally six weeks, in which to file a defence. Where there are minor children, the court examines the parenting plan and may involve the Child Care and Protection Board. A hearing follows if the court considers one necessary. Children aged twelve and over are given the opportunity to make their views known to the judge, and younger children may be heard at the court’s discretion. The court then issues its decision, dissolving the marriage and ruling on any consequences that remain in dispute.
The decision does not yet end the marriage. Both spouses have three months in which to appeal, and the divorce takes effect only once the decision has been entered in the register of marriages at the municipality where the marriage took place. Article 1:163 of the Civil Code requires that registration to take place within six months of the decision becoming final, not within six months of the date it was given, and provides that the decision loses its force if that period passes unused, which in practice means the divorce would have to be applied for again. Where both parties agree, a deed of acquiescence can be signed to waive the right of appeal, allowing registration to follow almost immediately. The population register is updated as a consequence of that registration; it is the entry in the marriage register that is decisive.
The settlement agreement and the parenting plan
The settlement agreement, or echtscheidingsconvenant, is the document in which the spouses record what they have agreed: how the assets and debts are divided, whether spousal maintenance will be paid and on what terms, what happens to the house and the mortgage, and how pension rights are dealt with. It is not compulsory, but a divorce without one leaves the court to decide the open points and leaves both parties exposed to disputes years later. Where the court incorporates the agreement into its decision, the terms it adopts acquire the enforceability of a court decision; provisions that remain outside the decision bind the parties as a matter of contract, and their effect depends on how they have been worded.
A parenting plan is compulsory whenever there are minor children under joint parental authority. The Code of Civil Procedure requires the parents to set out where each child will mainly live, how the care and contact will be divided, how they will consult and inform one another, and how the costs of the children will be met. A petition filed without a parenting plan must explain why agreement proved impossible, failing which it may be declared inadmissible. In practice courts more often ask the parents to supplement the plan, or refer the matter to the Child Care and Protection Board, than reject the petition outright. Divorce does not in itself change parental authority: both parents retain joint authority, and sole authority is granted only in the limited circumstances the law provides. The rules on authority and residence are explained in more detail in our guide to child custody laws in the Netherlands.
What has to be settled financially
For marriages entered into on or after 1 January 2018 a limited community of property applies: assets and debts acquired during the marriage are shared, while pre-marital property, gifts and inheritances remain personal. Marriages concluded before that date fall under the old general community of property, in which almost everything is shared, unless prenuptial conditions were agreed before a civil-law notary. Prenuptial conditions can also be entered into or amended during the marriage, and much then depends on whether any settlement clause in them was actually applied over the years; where a periodic settlement clause was never executed, the accumulated wealth may still have to be divided as though a community had existed. Businesses, shareholdings and debts each raise their own questions of valuation and allocation. For international couples, Regulation 2016/1103 determines the applicable matrimonial property law for marriages concluded on or after 29 January 2019 in the EU Member States participating in it; for earlier marriages, older conflict rules or a choice of law made at the time may govern the position.
Old-age pension accrued during the marriage is in principle equalised, with each spouse entitled to half of what the other built up during that period. Pension accrued before the marriage falls outside this, and the survivor’s pension is dealt with separately as a special partner’s pension. Spouses may agree a different arrangement in their prenuptial conditions or settlement agreement. Notifying the pension administrator within two years of the divorce allows each party to be paid their share directly by the fund; if that period is missed, the entitlement itself is not lost but has to be settled between the former spouses instead, which is considerably more cumbersome.
Spousal maintenance may be claimed by the spouse with insufficient means of their own. For proceedings started on or after 1 January 2020 the standard duration is half the length of the marriage with a maximum of five years, but the exceptions matter. Where the marriage lasted more than fifteen years and the recipient will reach state pension age within ten years, maintenance can run until that age is reached. Where the household includes children under twelve, it can run until the youngest turns twelve. A transitional rule applies to recipients born on or before 1 January 1970 whose marriage lasted more than fifteen years. Which regime applies therefore depends on the filing date, the length of the marriage and the ages of the parties and the children. Spousal maintenance is deductible for the payer and taxed as income in the hands of the recipient.
Child maintenance is calculated on the guidelines of the Expertgroep Alimentatienormen, usually referred to as the Trema norms, which weigh the needs of the child against each parent’s capacity to pay and allow for the share of the care each parent actually provides. The obligation runs until the child turns eighteen and continues as a duty to contribute to living and study costs until the age of twenty-one, at which point it is owed to the young adult directly. Child maintenance is neither deductible for the payer nor taxed in the hands of the recipient.
The family home and the mortgage
The family home frequently determines the pace of the whole divorce. The spouse who lived in the home may claim continued use of it for six months after the divorce is registered, but that is a temporary right of use and says nothing about ownership. If the property is jointly owned it must either be sold or taken over by one of the spouses, and where the home is rented one spouse can ask the court to allocate the tenancy. Taking the property over depends on the mortgage lender agreeing to release the other spouse from joint and several liability. A court can rule on who may use the home and on how the property is divided, but it cannot compel a bank to grant that release; that remains the lender’s decision and turns largely on income. Alongside this sit the questions of who bears the mortgage interest while the proceedings run, what happens where there is positive or negative equity, and what the tax consequences of the chosen solution are.
How long a divorce takes and what it costs
An uncontested joint petition with a completed settlement agreement can be dealt with in a matter of weeks once the paperwork is in order, and the process from first meeting to registration is often finished within two to three months. A contested divorce is a different exercise altogether: six months to a year is common, and cases involving a business valuation, cross-border assets or a dispute over the children can take considerably longer. These are indications drawn from practice rather than statutory periods, and financial disclosure, valuations, service abroad, expert evidence or a conflict over the children can extend them substantially. We look at the timeline in more detail in how long a divorce takes.
Costs follow the same logic. A joint divorce handled through one lawyer or a mediator carries a single fee and a single court fee, while a contested case generates two sets of lawyer’s fees and, where valuations or expert reports are needed, further costs on top. The figures below are indicative ranges rather than quotations, and the actual cost of a particular divorce depends on how much is in dispute.
| Item | Indication |
|---|---|
| Lawyer’s hourly rate | Varies by firm and seniority, plus 21% VAT |
| Court fee (griffierecht) | Set by the government and indexed annually; a reduced rate applies on a low income |
| Service by a bailiff, unilateral petition | A fixed statutory tariff, indexed annually |
| Joint, uncontested divorce | A single package of fees, typically the lowest-cost route |
| Contested divorce | Substantially higher, with two sets of fees and possible expert costs |
| Subsidised legal aid | Available on a low income through the Legal Aid Board, subject to a means-tested contribution |
Current court fees and bailiff tariffs are published by the Judiciary and the government and change each year, so it is worth checking the applicable rate at the moment of filing.
Divorce in the Netherlands for foreigners and expats
A substantial share of divorces handled in the Netherlands involves at least one non-Dutch spouse, and these cases raise questions a purely domestic divorce does not. A divorce granted by a Dutch court will usually be recognised in the other EU Member States without further formality. Recognition elsewhere is governed by the law of the country where it is sought and may require a separate procedure there, as well as legalisation or an apostille and a sworn translation. The same applies in reverse to a marriage concluded abroad: what the Dutch court needs by way of certificate, legalisation and translation depends on the country of origin and on the document itself. A divorce pronounced abroad can in turn be recognised in the Netherlands, provided the foreign court had jurisdiction on grounds Dutch private international law accepts and the procedure met basic standards of fairness.
Divorce may also affect a residence permit that was granted for the purpose of living with a partner. Whether it does, and with what result, depends on the type of permit, the length of lawful residence and the individual circumstances; an independent permit may be available after a sufficient period, and separate rules apply in situations involving domestic violence. Because these consequences can follow quickly once the divorce is registered, the position is best examined before the petition is filed rather than afterwards.
Where children are involved and one parent wishes to move abroad, the consent of the other holder of parental authority is required, or substitute consent from the court. Taking a child across a border without that consent can amount to international child abduction, which brings its own urgent procedure and should be avoided at all costs.
Mediation, collaborative divorce and separation from bed and board
Not every divorce needs to be fought out. Mediation allows both spouses to negotiate the terms with a neutral professional and then file jointly, which is faster and markedly cheaper; the mediator facilitates the negotiation rather than advising either party on their rights, so the outcome should be legally reviewed before it is signed. Collaborative divorce takes a similar approach with each party separately advised throughout, and sometimes with a financial expert or a coach involved. Where a couple wishes to separate but not to dissolve the marriage, for religious or financial reasons, separation from bed and board offers a formal route that leaves the marriage itself intact.
Dissolving a registered partnership
A registered partnership is not dissolved in quite the same way as a marriage. Where both partners agree on all the consequences and there are no minor children under their joint authority, the partnership can be ended by a written agreement signed by both partners and countersigned by a lawyer or a civil-law notary, which is then registered with the municipality. No court is involved. Where there are minor children, or where the partners cannot agree, the procedure runs through the court in the same way as a divorce. In terms of maintenance, property division and pension equalisation, registered partners are treated in the same way as spouses.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get divorced in the Netherlands without a lawyer?
No. The petition must be signed and filed by an advocaat admitted to practise in the Netherlands, and this applies even where both spouses agree on everything. In a joint procedure a single lawyer can act for both of you, which keeps the cost down.
Do I have to be separated before I can file?
No. Dutch law imposes no period of separation and no minimum duration of the marriage before a divorce petition can be filed.
Does it matter which of us files first?
Not as a matter of Dutch divorce law, since there is no fault to establish and no advantage attaches to being the petitioner. It can matter in international cases, where the court first seised may determine which country’s courts hear the case and which law applies.
Can I divorce in the Netherlands if we married abroad?
Yes, provided a Dutch court has jurisdiction, which will usually follow from habitual residence or from the nationality of both spouses. You will normally need the foreign marriage certificate, legalised or apostilled as required for the country of issue, together with a sworn translation.
What exactly is an echtscheidingsconvenant?
It is the written agreement in which the spouses record the consequences of the divorce: the division of assets and debts, any maintenance, the treatment of the pension and what happens to the house. It is signed by both parties and submitted with a joint petition, and the terms the court adopts in its decision can be enforced in the same way as the decision itself.
Can maintenance be changed later?
Yes. Where circumstances change significantly, for example through loss of employment or a change in the recipient’s situation, either party can ask the court to vary the amount. An agreement can also exclude or limit that possibility, so it is worth checking what was agreed.
Getting advice at the right moment
The decisions that carry the greatest financial weight in a divorce are usually taken in the first weeks, before anything is filed: whether to proceed jointly or unilaterally, what to do about the house, whether interim measures are needed, and what to sign. Advice at that stage is considerably more useful than advice after an agreement has already been reached. Law & More advises on divorce, maintenance, parenting arrangements and the division of assets, including cases with an international element, and works in Dutch and English among other languages.
This article sets out general information about divorce proceedings in the Netherlands. Timeframes, costs and legal consequences depend on the facts of the individual case and on the courts and authorities involved, and the rules summarised here are subject to change. A general description should not be assumed to apply automatically to a particular situation, especially where children, a business, pensions, real estate, an international element or a residence permit are involved, and it is no substitute for advice on the facts of your own case.
