Dutch family law is set out in Book 1 of the Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek, BW) and rests on a small number of principles that decide most outcomes. Legal parenthood, not biology, decides parental rights, and a divorce always goes through the court, except that a registered partnership without minor children can be ended without one.
The woman who gives birth is the legal mother. The second legal parent is established by marriage or registered partnership, by acknowledgement (erkenning), or by a court decision. Parental authority (gezag) follows separately. Since 1 January 2023 an unmarried partner who acknowledges a child acquires joint authority automatically with that acknowledgement. Before that date a separate registration was needed, and that difference still comes up in practice.
Marriage and registered partnership are close to equivalent in their legal effects. For marriages entered into on or after 1 January 2018 the default property regime is the limited community of property, in which assets from before the marriage, gifts and inheritances remain private. Where there are children under eighteen, a parenting plan must in principle be filed with the divorce petition. Child maintenance runs until the age of twenty-one. Partner maintenance is limited in time by statute, with exceptions for long marriages and for those close to state pension age. Where an international element is present, such as a foreign nationality, assets abroad or a marriage concluded elsewhere, jurisdiction and applicable law are determined first, largely under European regulations.
Below we explain each of these subjects: the principles, the forms of relationship, divorce, children, the international side and the impact on business owners.
What are the key principles of Dutch family law?
Dutch family law protects the interests of children first, and treats adults as equal partners who can largely arrange their own affairs. Most rules are in Book 1 BW; the procedural rules are in the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (Wetboek van Burgerlijke Rechtsvordering, Rv).
Which family relationships does Dutch law recognise?
Dutch law recognises marriage, registered partnership and legal parenthood as formal family relationships. Unmarried cohabitation is not a formal status, although it has consequences in areas such as tax and social security.
Marriage has been open to same-sex couples since 1 April 2001. Registered partnership (geregistreerd partnerschap) is open to both same-sex and different-sex couples. Blended families are common, but a step-parent is not automatically a legal parent. A step-parent can obtain legal ties through adoption, or can share authority with the parent through joint authority (gezamenlijk gezag) under Article 1:253t BW, if the court grants it.
What rights and duties do parents have?
Parents who have authority must care for and raise their child. Under Article 1:247 BW this includes responsibility for the child’s mental and physical well-being and safety, and for the development of the child’s personality. The law expressly forbids mental or physical violence or any other degrading treatment in raising a child.
Separately from authority, both legal parents must pay for the costs of care and upbringing (Article 1:404 BW). A child also has the right to contact with both parents, and a parent without authority has the right to contact with the child (Article 1:377a BW). A court can only refuse contact on limited grounds, for example if it would seriously harm the child’s development.
How do the courts approach family disputes?
The family court (familierechter) is part of the district court. It decides on divorce, authority, residence, contact arrangements and maintenance. In disputes about children, the interests of the child are the primary consideration.
The courts encourage parents to reach agreement, for example through mediation, but mediation is not compulsory. If parents cannot agree, the court decides. It can ask the Child Care and Protection Board (Raad voor de Kinderbescherming) to investigate and advise on what is in the child’s interest. Children aged twelve and older are invited to give their views to the judge (Article 809 Rv); younger children can also be heard if the court finds this appropriate.
Marriage, registered partnership or cohabitation: what is the difference?
Marriage and registered partnership have almost the same legal consequences. The main differences are in how they end and in a few aspects of parenthood and international recognition. Cohabitation has no legal status of its own.
Legal forms of relationship compared
| Form | How it is created | Main legal consequences |
|---|---|---|
| Civil marriage | Ceremony before the registrar of births, deaths and marriages | Duty of mutual support, maintenance obligations, property regime, inheritance rights, in principle automatic legal parenthood of the spouse of the mother (for a female spouse only under conditions) |
| Registered partnership | Registration by the registrar | Almost identical to marriage, including property regime, maintenance and inheritance; can be ended out of court if there are no minor children |
| Cohabitation (with or without a cohabitation agreement) | No formal act; an agreement can be made privately or by notarial deed | Only what the partners agree; no statutory maintenance between partners and no inheritance rights without a will |
Marriage and registered partnership both create a duty of mutual support and assistance (Articles 1:81 and 1:80b BW). Both also create a statutory maintenance obligation after the relationship ends. The spouse or partner is a statutory heir, and the property regime of Title 7 of Book 1 BW applies to both.
Which property regime applies?
For marriages and registered partnerships entered into on or after 1 January 2018, the default is the limited community of property (beperkte gemeenschap van goederen). Only what the spouses acquire during the marriage becomes joint property. Assets from before the marriage, and gifts and inheritances, remain private (Article 1:94 BW).
For marriages entered into before 2018, the old default of a general community of property usually still applies. In that regime, in principle all assets and debts of both spouses, including those from before the marriage, belong to the community. Couples can depart from the default regime with a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement (huwelijkse voorwaarden), which must be made by notarial deed (Article 1:115 BW).
How does divorce work in the Netherlands?
A marriage can only be dissolved by a court. The single ground for divorce is that the marriage has broken down permanently (duurzame ontwrichting, Article 1:151 BW), and the court accepts that ground if both spouses ask for it together or if one spouse states it.
Spouses can file a joint petition, which is usually faster and cheaper. If they do not agree, one spouse can file a unilateral petition and the other can respond. Filing requires a lawyer (advocaat). Many couples first make agreements, often with the help of a mediator or of lawyers on both sides, and record these in a divorce settlement (echtscheidingsconvenant). The court can include those agreements in its decision.
The divorce only takes effect once the court’s decision has been registered with the civil registry. That must happen within six months after the decision has become final; if not, the decision loses its force (Article 1:163 BW).
Can a registered partnership be ended without a court?
Yes, if the partners agree and have no minor children together. They then sign a declaration, prepared with the assistance of at least one lawyer or civil-law notary, and have it registered with the civil registry (Article 1:80c BW).
If there are minor children, or if the partners do not agree, the partnership must be ended by the court, in the same way as a marriage. Since 1 March 2009 the “flash divorce”, in which a marriage was converted into a registered partnership and then ended out of court, is no longer possible.
What happens to maintenance after a divorce?
Child maintenance and partner maintenance are separate obligations. Child maintenance takes priority over partner maintenance.
- Child maintenance (kinderalimentatie): both parents must contribute to the costs of care and upbringing of their minor children (Article 1:404 BW) and to the costs of living and study of children aged 18 to 21 (Article 1:395a BW). The amount is calculated with the published standards of the family judges (alimentatienormen), based on the needs of the child and the financial capacity of each parent.
- Partner maintenance (partneralimentatie): for requests filed on or after 1 January 2020, partner maintenance lasts in principle at most five years, and half the duration of the marriage if the marriage lasted less than ten years. There are three exceptions: it continues until the youngest child turns 12; after a marriage of more than 15 years it continues until state pension age (AOW) if the recipient reaches that age within ten years; and after a marriage of more than 15 years, a recipient born on or before 1 January 1970 receives maintenance for ten years.
Maintenance can be changed later if circumstances change, for example if the income of either party changes substantially (Article 1:401 BW).
What are the rules on parental authority and the children after a separation?
Parents who had joint authority keep it after a divorce. The court decides on the child’s main residence, care arrangements and contact only if the parents cannot agree, and always with the child’s interests as the primary consideration.
Principles of parental authority
| Aspect | What the law says |
|---|---|
| Duration | Authority ends when the child turns 18, the age of majority (Article 1:233 BW). |
| Who has authority | Married parents and registered partners in principle have joint authority. For unmarried parents, acknowledgement on or after 1 January 2023 in principle gives joint authority; before that date, registration in the authority register was required. |
| After divorce | Joint authority continues (Article 1:251 BW). The court only grants sole authority if there is an unacceptable risk that the child would otherwise become trapped or lost between the parents, or if a change is otherwise necessary in the child’s interests (Article 1:251a BW). |
| Child’s voice | Children aged 12 and older are invited to give their views to the court; younger children can be heard as well. |
| Parents’ duties | Care and upbringing, the child’s well-being and safety, costs of care and upbringing, and fostering the bond with the other parent (Articles 1:247 and 1:404 BW). |
What must a parenting plan contain?
Parents with joint authority who divorce or end their registered partnership must in principle file a parenting plan (ouderschapsplan) with the petition (Article 815 Rv). Unmarried parents with joint authority who separate must also make a parenting plan (Article 1:247a BW), although they do not need a court to end their relationship.
Under Article 815 Rv the plan must at least cover how the parents divide care and upbringing tasks or arrange contact, how they inform and consult each other about important matters concerning the child, and how they share the costs of care and upbringing. The plan must also say how the child was involved in drawing it up.
How do courts decide on care and contact arrangements?
Dutch law does not use the Anglo-American terms “physical custody” and “legal custody”. The relevant concepts are authority, the child’s main residence, and a care arrangement (zorgregeling) or contact arrangement (omgangsregeling).
There is no fixed rule that the child spends equal time with each parent. Many parents agree on a co-parenting arrangement (co-ouderschap) in which the child lives roughly half the time with each of them. The court looks at the practical situation: the distance between the homes, the school, the child’s age and wishes, how the parents communicate, and the arrangements that already existed. It can ask the Child Care and Protection Board for advice.
Can a parent move abroad with the child?
Not without the consent of the other parent with authority, or permission from the court. A parent with joint authority who wants to move with the child, in the Netherlands or abroad, needs the other parent’s agreement on this important decision. If the other parent refuses, the court can decide the matter under Article 1:253a BW.
The court weighs all interests: the child’s interest in contact with both parents, the reason for the move, how well it has been prepared, and how contact with the other parent will be arranged. Taking a child abroad without consent or permission can amount to international child abduction. The Hague Child Abduction Convention of 1980 then provides a procedure for the child’s prompt return. It can also be a criminal offence under Article 279 of the Dutch Criminal Code.
What if the family has an international element?
Where a spouse or child has a foreign nationality, where the family lived abroad, or where there are assets in another country, the first questions are which court has jurisdiction and which law applies. Only then do the substantive Dutch rules come into play.
The main instruments are:
- Brussels II-ter Regulation (EU) 2019/1111: jurisdiction for divorce and for parental responsibility within the EU, and recognition of decisions between Member States.
- Maintenance Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 with the Hague Protocol of 2007: jurisdiction and applicable law for maintenance.
- Matrimonial Property Regulation (EU) 2016/1103: jurisdiction and applicable law for the property regime of marriages concluded, or choices of law made, on or after 29 January 2019.
- Hague Child Protection Convention of 1996: jurisdiction and applicable law for measures concerning children.
The Netherlands does not take part in the Rome III Regulation on the law applicable to divorce. A Dutch court applies Dutch law to the divorce itself (Article 10:56 BW), even if the spouses have a foreign nationality.
A marriage validly concluded abroad is in principle recognised in the Netherlands. Same-sex spouses have the same rights as different-sex spouses under Dutch law, but a Dutch marriage may not be recognised in every other country. That can matter if you move abroad later. Questions of residence permits after a divorce are a separate area of law; we deal with regular migration, not with asylum.
What does family law mean for business owners?
For an entrepreneur, the property regime decides whether the business, or its increase in value, is shared on divorce. A prenuptial agreement and good company documents prevent a divorce from putting the business at risk.
How does the property regime affect a business?
Under the limited community of property that applies since 2018, a business or shares that one spouse owned before the marriage remain private. But if that spouse works in the business during the marriage, the community is entitled to a reasonable remuneration for that effort under Article 1:95a BW. That can still lead to a substantial claim on divorce.
A business started during the marriage, or shares acquired during the marriage, in principle fall into the community. Under the old general community of property, which still applies to many marriages from before 2018, the whole business usually falls into the community. On divorce each spouse is in principle entitled to half its value (Article 1:100 BW), which can require a valuation and a payout that the business cannot easily afford.
How can a prenuptial agreement protect the business?
A prenuptial agreement can exclude the business from any community, for example with a strict separation of property (koude uitsluiting). It can also contain a periodic settlement clause, under which the spouses share their savings from income each year or at the end of the marriage.
The wording matters. With a periodic settlement clause (periodiek verrekenbeding), profits that are kept in the company rather than paid out can in some cases still count as income to be shared. Spouses who fail to carry out the annual settlement run the risk that the law presumes the unsettled assets were formed from income that should have been shared (Article 1:141(3) BW). It is therefore worth having the agreement checked by a lawyer and a notary with a view to the business.
What about leadership and succession?
A divorce can affect the running of the company, particularly in a family business. Maintenance obligations and a settlement payment can limit the owner’s ability to invest. And if shares fall to an ex-spouse, that person may gain influence over the company.
Business owners can reduce these risks by coordinating their personal and corporate arrangements: a prenuptial agreement, blocking clauses and transfer rules in the articles of association or shareholders’ agreement, and a will that fits the succession plan. For a family business, that coordination between family law and corporate law is often the most important step.
How do you protect your family and your interests?
Start by finding out which rules apply to you: your property regime, who has authority over your children, and whether an international element changes the answer. Then record agreements in writing before a conflict arises.
Many people are unsure of their position under Dutch family law. Questions about authority, contact, maintenance and the division of property are common, and they become more complex in international families or when a business is involved. Clear agreements in a prenuptial agreement, a cohabitation agreement or a parenting plan prevent many disputes.
Law & More advises in English and Dutch on all aspects of family law, from authority and contact arrangements to maintenance, the division of property and the protection of business assets. You can find more about our firm at Law & More.
In summary
- Legal parenthood and parental authority are separate concepts; since 1 January 2023 acknowledgement by an unmarried partner in principle gives joint authority.
- Marriage and registered partnership have nearly the same effects; since 2018 the default is the limited community of property.
- A divorce always requires a court; a registered partnership without minor children can be ended out of court.
- Child maintenance runs until 21; partner maintenance lasts in principle at most five years, with statutory exceptions.
- In international cases, jurisdiction and applicable law come first, largely under EU regulations; a Dutch court applies Dutch law to the divorce itself.
Frequently asked questions
What are the key principles of Dutch family law?
The interests of the child come first, legal parenthood and parental authority are separate concepts, and adults can largely arrange their own affairs through agreements such as a prenuptial agreement or a parenting plan. Most rules are in Book 1 of the Dutch Civil Code.
How does the Dutch legal system approach divorce?
A marriage can only be dissolved by a court, on the ground that it has broken down permanently. Spouses can file jointly or one of them can file alone, always through a lawyer. The courts encourage agreements, for example through mediation, but mediation is not compulsory. With minor children, a parenting plan must in principle be filed.
What types of partnership are recognised under Dutch law?
Dutch law recognises marriage and registered partnership, which have almost the same legal effects. Cohabitation is not a formal status; partners can make their own arrangements in a cohabitation agreement, but they have no statutory maintenance or inheritance rights towards each other.
What should business owners consider regarding Dutch family law?
Business owners should check which property regime applies and whether the business, or its increase in value, would be shared on divorce. A carefully drafted prenuptial agreement, together with suitable clauses in the articles of association or shareholders’ agreement, helps protect the business.
We help families and business owners arrange their affairs and resolve disputes under Dutch family law. Unsure where you stand? Tell us about your situation. We will let you know your options within one working day.
