Divorce settlement agreement in the Netherlands explained

A divorce settlement agreement (echtscheidingsconvenant) is a written contract in which you and your spouse record how you settle the consequences of your divorce: the home, the division of property, spousal maintenance and pensions. It is not required by law, but if you have minor children and share parental authority, a separate parenting plan (ouderschapsplan) is mandatory.

Once you both sign, the agreement binds you as a contract. It only becomes enforceable through a bailiff if the court incorporates it into the divorce order. Below we explain what the agreement should contain, how the court deals with it and what you can do if circumstances change later.

What is a divorce settlement agreement?

It is the document in which spouses or registered partners set out their arrangements for life after the divorce. In practice it usually qualifies as a settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst) under Article 7:900 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW), because you use it to settle what is or could become uncertain or disputed between you.

The agreement typically covers the home and mortgage, household contents, savings and investments, debts, spousal maintenance, pension division, insurance and tax matters. It is usually filed with the court together with a joint petition for divorce. Our divorce lawyer page explains how that procedure works as a whole.

The agreement is different from the parenting plan. The settlement agreement deals with the relationship between you and your former partner. The parenting plan deals with your minor children: care, contact, information and child maintenance. The two documents are drafted side by side and often refer to each other.

Is a divorce settlement agreement mandatory?

No. Dutch law does not require one, and you can divorce without it. In practice, however, it is hard to do without an agreement as soon as there is anything to divide or arrange.

An agreement is effectively necessary in the following situations:

• you own a home together or have a joint mortgage;
• there are joint debts or significant assets;
• one of you will pay spousal maintenance to the other;
• pension rights built up during the marriage have to be divided;
• allowances, benefits or tax positions depend on clear arrangements.

The parenting plan is a different matter. Under Article 815 of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (Rv), a divorce petition must include a parenting plan if you exercise joint parental authority over minor children. Without it, the court will not simply deal with the petition.

If you cannot agree, one of you can file a one-sided petition. The court then decides the disputed issues itself, such as maintenance or the division of the community of property. That route is usually slower, more expensive and less predictable than a negotiated agreement.

What should the agreement contain?

A complete agreement covers every financial and practical consequence of the divorce. The table below lists the usual components.

Both of you must sign the agreement before it is filed. Be as precise as possible: amounts, dates, account numbers of the loans involved and who does what by when. Vague wording is the most common source of disputes after a divorce.

Spousal maintenance: the five-year rule and its exceptions

Under Article 1:157 BW, spousal maintenance (partneralimentatie) set on or after 1 January 2020 ends by operation of law after five years. Longer terms apply if the marriage lasted more than 15 years and the recipient is within ten years of state pension (AOW) age, if there are children under 12, and under a transitional rule for older recipients after a long marriage. You may agree on a different term in the settlement agreement.

Pension division

Under the Pension Rights Equalisation (Divorce) Act (Wet verevening pensioenrechten bij scheiding), each spouse is in principle entitled to half of the old-age pension accrued during the marriage. You can agree on a different division or on conversion. Notify the pension fund within two years of the divorce, using the form published by the government; otherwise the fund will not pay the share to the former partner directly.

What about the parenting plan and minor children?

If you have minor children and share parental authority, you must file a parenting plan with the divorce petition. The settlement agreement does not replace it.

The parenting plan sets out at least:

• the main residence of the children and the division of care;
• contact arrangements, including holidays;
• how you will keep each other informed and consult on important decisions, such as school choice and medical treatment;
• the costs of care and upbringing, in other words child maintenance.

The court reviews these arrangements closely and puts the interests of the child first. Children aged 12 and over are invited to give their views to the court. For younger children, the court checks how their interests and wishes have been taken into account.

Child maintenance is normally set out in the parenting plan. The settlement agreement can refer to it, so that the two documents do not contradict each other.

When is the agreement binding and enforceable?

The agreement binds you both as a contract as soon as you have signed it. It becomes enforceable through a bailiff once the court has incorporated it into the divorce order.

Under Article 819 Rv, the court can, at your joint request, include the content of the agreement in its decision, in whole or in part. The divorce order then serves as an enforceable title (executoriale titel). If your former partner does not pay maintenance or does not cooperate in the division, you can have the arrangements enforced by a bailiff. The National Maintenance Collection Agency (LBIO) can collect unpaid child and spousal maintenance for you.

The court does not review every financial arrangement for fairness. It does check that the agreement is not contrary to the law or public order, and it looks carefully at arrangements concerning children.

How do you draw up the agreement?

You can negotiate the agreement yourselves, with a mediator or each with your own lawyer. A lawyer is always needed to file the divorce petition, because divorce proceedings in the Netherlands require legal representation.

In practice the process follows four steps:

• Inventory: list all assets, debts, income, pension rights and obligations, with supporting documents.
• Negotiation: discuss the home, maintenance and division, jointly or through your advisers.
• Drafting: put the arrangements in writing, for example with the help of a mediator.
• Legal review and filing: a lawyer checks the agreement and files it with the joint petition.

Many couples use one lawyer or mediator for both of them. That works well if you already broadly agree. If there is a large imbalance in knowledge or bargaining power, it is usually wiser for each of you to have your own lawyer. An agreement drafted without any legal review often misses topics or contains provisions that later prove unenforceable.

How do you deal with the home and the mortgage?

The home is often the largest asset and the source of the largest debt. You can choose between three routes: one of you takes over the home, you sell it, or you keep it jointly for a limited period.

• Takeover: one partner keeps the home and refinances the mortgage in their own name, for example within a set number of months after the divorce is registered.
• Sale: you sell the home before an agreed date and share the surplus or the residual debt in an agreed ratio.
• Temporary joint ownership: you stay co-owners for a period agreed in advance, with clear rules on costs and the moment of sale.

Lenders will usually want to see the settlement agreement before they assess whether one of you can carry the mortgage alone. Record precisely who is released from joint and several liability, who bears any residual debt, and how and on what date the home is valued. The transfer of a share in the home requires a notarial deed drawn up by a civil-law notary (notaris).

Which bodies will ask for the agreement?

You will need the agreement long after the divorce itself. Keep it safe, together with the divorce order.

Common situations in which you are asked to produce it:

• applying for a new mortgage or rental home;
• filing your tax return for the year of the divorce;
• applying for allowances or adjusting benefits;
• notifying pension funds of the pension division;
• disputes about maintenance, debts or pension, where the agreement is your main evidence.

What if you have lost the agreement?

Ask the lawyer or mediator who handled your divorce for a copy first. If the agreement was incorporated into the divorce order, the court that granted the divorce can provide a copy of the decision if you give the case number or the year of the divorce.

The municipality registers the divorce in the civil registry, but usually does not keep the settlement agreement itself. The agreement does not expire. Arrangements remain in force until they have been carried out, ended by their own terms or amended.

Can you amend or challenge the agreement later?

Yes, but not on your own. You need your former partner’s consent or a court decision.

If you both agree, record the new arrangements in an addendum signed by both of you. Maintenance arrangements can also be changed by the court under Article 1:401 BW if circumstances have changed, for example after job loss, long-term illness or a structural change in income. A new relationship of the recipient can also be relevant: spousal maintenance ends if the recipient remarries or cohabits with someone as if married (Article 1:160 BW). Be aware that you can agree in the settlement agreement that spousal maintenance may not be changed (Article 1:159 BW).

Arrangements on the division of property are harder to reopen. A division can be annulled if one of you was prejudiced by more than a quarter as a result of a mistake about the value of the assets (Article 3:196 BW), or on grounds such as fraud or mistake. A spouse who deliberately concealed assets loses their share in them (Article 1:135 BW). Time limits apply, so act quickly if you discover a problem.

What costs should you expect?

The costs depend mainly on how much you agree on and whether you use one adviser or two. Joint preparation with one lawyer or mediator is usually the least expensive route; a contested procedure with two lawyers and court decisions on every issue is the most expensive.

On top of the adviser’s fees, the court charges a court fee (griffierecht) for the divorce petition. The amount is set by the government each year and can be found on rechtspraak.nl. If your income is below a certain level, you may qualify for subsidised legal aid through the Legal Aid Board (Raad voor Rechtsbijstand), which lowers both the lawyer’s costs and the court fee.

A carefully drafted agreement saves money later. Most follow-up proceedings after a divorce are about arrangements that were unclear or incomplete.

The agreement is signed: what happens next?

Your lawyer files the agreement with the petition, the court grants the divorce, and the divorce takes effect only once it is registered in the civil registry. Watch the deadline for registration.

• The lawyer files the petition, the settlement agreement and, where relevant, the parenting plan with the court.
• The court grants the divorce and, at your request, incorporates the agreement into its order.
• After the three-month appeal period, or sooner if both of you waive your right to appeal, the order becomes final.
• The order must be registered in the civil registry within six months after it has become final. If that does not happen, the order lapses (Article 1:163 BW).

The arrangements on the division of the community of property relate to the date on which the petition was filed. Other arrangements take effect on registration of the divorce. Then carry out the practical steps: transfer or close joint accounts, adjust insurance policies, report changes of address, notify the pension funds and, if one of you keeps the home, have the notary draw up the deed of division and arrange the new mortgage.

An example: a couple agrees that one partner will keep the home. If the refinancing takes longer than expected, the other partner remains liable for the mortgage in the meantime. A clear deadline and a fallback, such as a forced sale if refinancing fails, prevent that situation from dragging on.

In summary

• A divorce settlement agreement records the financial and practical consequences of your divorce; it is not mandatory but almost always needed.
• A parenting plan is mandatory if you share parental authority over minor children.
• The agreement binds you once signed and becomes enforceable when the court incorporates it into the divorce order.
• The divorce must be registered within six months after the order becomes final, or the order lapses.
• Changes require your former partner’s consent or a court decision based on changed circumstances.

Frequently asked questions about the divorce settlement agreement

Law & More drafts and reviews divorce settlement agreements and parenting plans and handles the divorce procedure for Dutch and international clients.

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