How long a divorce takes in the Netherlands depends almost entirely on one thing: whether you file a joint petition or one of you files against the other. An uncontested joint petition, with the covenant and any parenting plan already agreed, can be dealt with by the court on the papers, and a decision within a few weeks of filing is realistic. A contested divorce runs to months, and where there are disputed valuations, expert evidence or an international element, longer still.

Phase 1: preparation

This is the phase that actually determines the timetable, and it is the one over which you have the most control. It covers gathering the financial information, agreeing the arrangements for the children, the house, the pensions and the maintenance, and having the covenant and parenting plan drawn up. Where parents work through it constructively, a few weeks; where every item is disputed, indefinitely.

Obtaining documents from third parties – pension administrators, mortgage lenders, valuers – consistently takes longer than people plan for. Requesting them at the start rather than at the end shortens the whole process.

Phase 2: filing and the court

A joint petition is filed by one lawyer or mediator acting for both parties, and the court can decide without a hearing. A unilateral petition must be served on the other spouse, who then has a period to file a defence; if a defence is filed, the court lists a hearing, and the interval to that hearing is typically a couple of months depending on the court’s workload.

Where matters cannot wait – the use of the home, interim maintenance, where the children stay – interim provisions can be requested and are dealt with quickly.

Phase 3: the decision and the appeal period

After the decision there is an appeal period of three months. Where both spouses have signed a declaration of acquiescence, that period does not have to be waited out and the divorce can be registered immediately, which is one of the practical advantages of a joint petition.

Phase 4: registration

The divorce takes effect only when the decision is registered in the register of civil status. Registration must take place within six months of the decision becoming final; if it does not, the decision lapses and the whole procedure has to be started again. This is a genuine trap in amicable divorces, where parties assume the matter is finished when the decision arrives.

What actually causes delay

In our experience, four things: incomplete financial information; disagreement about the house, where the outcome depends on a lender’s willingness to release one party; pension division; and communication running through two lawyers instead of one mediator. Only the last of those is a matter of choice at the outset, and it is the one with the largest effect.

Advice

We can usually tell you at the first meeting which route fits your situation and what timetable is realistic. Please contact Law & More; our family lawyers act both as joint counsel and for one spouse.