How do you choose a family law firm in the Netherlands for a complex divorce?

For a complex divorce in the Netherlands, choose a firm that practises family law as a core area, that can handle whatever makes your case complex, and that can explain everything in a language you understand well. Most Dutch divorces are not complex; complexity comes from business ownership, substantial or cross-border assets, pension rights or a real dispute about the children, and each of those brings in a separate body of law.

Getting one of those elements wrong at the start usually costs far more than the advice would have. Below we set out what makes a divorce legally complex under Dutch and European rules, what a firm needs to be able to do in each situation, and what to ask before you instruct anyone. This article is meant to help you decide whom to instruct, not to argue for a particular choice.

What makes a divorce complex under Dutch law?

A divorce is complex when specific features are present, such as a business, significant or international assets, pensions, an international element or a dispute about the children. Identify which of them apply to you before you look for a divorce lawyer, because they determine what kind of firm your case needs.

Where the spouses agree, there are no minor children and no significant assets, a divorce is mainly a matter of drafting and filing. The picture changes when one or more of the following features are present:

• Business ownership: shares in a private limited company (BV), a director-major shareholder (directeur-grootaandeelhouder, DGA) structure, a partnership interest, or a family company in which more than one generation holds an interest.
• Substantial or contested assets: real estate, investment portfolios, second homes abroad, or accounts and holdings in more than one country.
• Pension rights: occupational pensions to be divided, pension built up in the spouse’s own company, or entitlements built up with foreign employers.
• An international element: spouses of different nationalities, a marriage concluded abroad, a recent move to or from the Netherlands, or a plan by one spouse to leave.
• A dispute about the children: main residence, the division of care, relocation abroad, or a risk that a child is taken out of the Netherlands without consent.
• An income structure that resists a simple calculation: salary combined with dividends, bonuses, share options or income that fluctuates with the business.

These features reinforce each other. A DGA divorce with a foreign spouse and children is not three separate problems but one problem in which each element limits the others, and the order in which you deal with them matters. Our article on high-net-worth divorce in the Netherlands deals with the asset side in more detail.

Which rules decide a cross-border divorce?

In an international divorce, first establish which court may hear the case and which law it applies to each part of the divorce. Several different instruments can apply to one divorce, and a mistake about jurisdiction is often impossible to repair later.

Where a couple has an international connection, the first questions are not about the merits. A divorce granted by a court that was not the most suitable forum, or that was seised first by the other spouse abroad, is difficult and expensive to undo.

Jurisdiction in divorce and parental responsibility within the EU is governed by Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 (Brussels II ter), which has applied since 1 August 2022. A Dutch court generally has jurisdiction if both spouses, or the respondent, are habitually resident in the Netherlands. An applicant living in the Netherlands can also file here after at least one year of habitual residence, or six months if the applicant is a Dutch national. Where the courts of more than one Member State have jurisdiction, the court first seised takes precedence. That is why the timing of a petition can be decisive, and why a spouse who expects proceedings to be started abroad needs advice quickly.

The law applicable to the divorce itself works differently in the Netherlands than in many other EU countries. The Netherlands does not take part in the Rome III Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 1259/2010) on the law applicable to divorce. Under Article 10:56 of the Dutch Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek, BW), a Dutch court applies Dutch law to the question whether and on which grounds a divorce can be granted. Only in limited cases can spouses with a common foreign nationality choose the law of that country in the proceedings. In practice, the choice of law question in a Dutch divorce therefore mainly concerns property, maintenance and pensions, not the divorce itself.

Matrimonial property is a separate question again. For couples who married on or after 29 January 2019, Regulation (EU) 2016/1103 determines which country’s matrimonial property law applies. For earlier marriages, the Hague Matrimonial Property Convention of 1978 or older Dutch conflict rules apply, depending on the date of the marriage. Maintenance falls outside Brussels II ter altogether: jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement are governed by Regulation (EC) No 4/2009, and the applicable law by the Hague Protocol of 2007. Finally, if a child is taken abroad without the other parent’s consent, the Hague Child Abduction Convention of 1980 applies, and its procedures move very fast.

The practical point is that four or more instruments can apply to a single divorce, each with its own connecting factor. A firm without real experience in private international law will not identify them in the first meeting, and that is precisely when it matters.

How are matrimonial property and business assets divided?

Under Dutch law, the starting point depends on the date of the marriage and on any prenuptial agreement. The value of a business adds a separate valuation question, and tax consequences follow almost every decision.

For marriages concluded on or after 1 January 2018, the default regime is the limited community of property (beperkte gemeenschap van goederen). What each spouse owned before the marriage, and what either receives by gift or inheritance, remains private. What is built up during the marriage falls into the community. Marriages concluded before that date, without a prenuptial agreement, are still governed by the former general community of property, under which almost everything is shared. Our article on the limited community of property explains the difference and the records it requires you to keep.

A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement (huwelijkse voorwaarden) replaces the default regime, and in a complex divorce it is usually the first document to read. Two problems come up again and again. The first is a periodic settlement clause (periodiek verrekenbeding) that was never performed. If the spouses agreed to settle surplus income each year and never did so, Article 1:141(3) BW presumes that the assets present at the end of the marriage were formed from what should have been settled. That can lead to an outcome close to a full community, despite the agreement. The second is confusion between private and community money after years of transfers between accounts. This leads to reimbursement claims (vergoedingsrechten) that have to be traced and proven.

Business assets add a valuation question to the legal one. A shareholding has to be valued at a defined moment and on a defined basis, and the choice of method can change the outcome considerably. A valuer or forensic accountant does that work, not the lawyer, but the lawyer frames the instruction. An instruction that does not specify the valuation date, the standard of value and the treatment of retained profits produces a report that cannot be used. Where the company holds the DGA’s pension, or where the other spouse has a claim against the company rather than against the shares, family law and corporate law questions cannot sensibly be separated.

Tax consequences follow almost every decision about a business or a property in a divorce, and they belong with a tax adviser rather than a lawyer. What your lawyer should do is flag the issue in time and make sure the settlement is not signed before the tax position has been checked, because the sequence is hard to reverse afterwards. Law & More does not provide international tax structuring; for that part we refer you to a specialised tax adviser.

What happens to pension rights on divorce?

Occupational pension is dealt with separately from the other assets. Under the Pension Rights Equalisation (Divorce) Act (Wet verevening pensioenrechten bij scheiding, WVPS), each spouse is in principle entitled to half of the old-age pension the other built up during the marriage.

Equalisation is not automatic in practice. The pension provider only pays the entitled spouse directly if it is notified within the statutory period after the divorce. If that period is missed, the claim remains, but it has to be collected from the former spouse rather than from the fund. Spouses can also agree to deviate from the Act, to convert the entitlement into an independent pension right, or to exclude equalisation altogether. Any such agreement has to be laid down in the prenuptial agreement or the divorce settlement.

A bill to replace the WVPS with a system of conversion by default, the Wet pensioenverdeling bij scheiding 2022 (bill 35287), was submitted to the House of Representatives in September 2019. As of September 2026 it has not been adopted, and its intended date of entry into force has been postponed. Until it is passed and brought into force, the WVPS continues to apply in full. If you read that a new pension division regime is already in place, check the current position before relying on it.

Two situations need specialist attention. The first is pension built up in the spouse’s own company, which raises questions about the company’s ability to pay and about the other spouse’s consent. The second is pension built up with foreign employers, where the WVPS may not reach the entitlement at all and the position depends on the law and scheme rules of the country concerned.

What should you look for in a Dutch family law firm?

Look for real specialisation, the ability to deal with a business in-house, experience with international cases and advice in a language you are fluent in. And check who will actually handle your file.

Start with specialisation. Family law should be a primary practice area of the lawyers who will handle your file, not one of a dozen areas on a profile. Specialisation shows in familiarity with the family divisions of the relevant courts, in established working relationships with valuers, forensic accountants and actuaries, and in recognising early which issues will be contested. Some Dutch family lawyers are members of the specialist association of family law lawyers and divorce mediators (vFAS). That is a useful signal, but not a decisive one.

If a business is involved, ask whether corporate law expertise is available within the firm. A divorce that turns on the value of a shareholding, a shareholders’ agreement or a current account between the spouse and the company requires both disciplines to work from the same file. Referring the corporate questions to an outside adviser can work, but it is slower. It also tends to produce advice that answers each question correctly in isolation, without seeing how they affect each other.

For international cases, ask specifically about experience with private international law, not just about international clients. A firm may have many foreign clients and still handle only purely Dutch divorces for them. The relevant question is whether the firm has argued jurisdiction and applicable law, and whether it has conducted or defended proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention if children may be taken abroad.

Language is a substantive requirement, not a convenience. Dutch proceedings are conducted in Dutch. If you cannot read the documents filed on your behalf, you cannot correct the facts in them. Advice, drafting and the explanation of what happens at a hearing should therefore be available in a language you are fluent in.

Finally, consider who will do the work. Large full-service firms offer breadth, but family matters generate less billing volume than corporate transactions, and files are often delegated to junior lawyers. Mid-sized firms with a dedicated family law team, and specialist boutiques, tend to offer more senior involvement. What matters is not the size of the firm but the identity and experience of the lawyer who will attend your hearing.

How do you assess a firm before you instruct it?

Use directories and reviews as a starting point, but base your decision on the first meeting. A firm that is equipped for your case asks targeted questions before it gives any opinion.

Directories such as The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners are a starting point. Their Dutch coverage, however, is weighted towards large commercial practices, and many capable family law firms do not appear in them. Independent review platforms say something about communication and responsiveness, but they rarely distinguish between a straightforward divorce and a contested international one. Neither replaces a conversation.

Use the first meeting as an assessment. A firm that is equipped for your case will ask when and where you married, whether there is a prenuptial agreement and what it says, what your assets and income look like, where each of you habitually resides and which nationalities you hold, and what the position is regarding the children. A confident strategy offered before those facts are known tells you more about the firm than any directory listing.

Ask directly about comparable cases and about who handled them. Ask how the firm would approach your case, and whether it sees mediation or a negotiated settlement as realistic, because a contested route that could have been avoided is the most expensive part of any divorce. Be wary of any prediction of the outcome. In family law the court has broad discretion, and a lawyer who guarantees a result is either misinformed or telling you what you want to hear.

What does a complex divorce cost, and how is it charged?

Dutch family lawyers usually charge an hourly rate, sometimes with a fixed fee for a defined part of the work. On top of that come the court fee and the cost of any experts, and in family cases each spouse normally bears their own legal costs.

Ask for the basis of charging in writing before you instruct a firm. A fixed fee is sometimes offered for a settlement agreement or an uncontested petition. The engagement letter should state the rate, who else may work on your file and at what rate, how expenses are handled, and how often you will be invoiced.

Separate from the lawyer’s fee are the court fee (griffierecht), which is set by law each year, and the cost of any expert: a valuer, a forensic accountant, an actuary or a translator. In a divorce involving a business, expert costs can approach the legal costs. Settle early who pays for the expert and whether you will instruct one jointly, rather than arguing about it later. If your income is low, you may qualify for subsidised legal aid through the Legal Aid Board (Raad voor Rechtsbijstand), subject to the income and capital thresholds it publishes. Our overview of the cost of a divorce in the Netherlands sets out the elements in more detail.

In Dutch family proceedings, the court normally orders each party to bear its own legal costs, and an order that the other spouse pays your costs is the exception. Take that into account before you decide to litigate a point rather than settle it.

How does Law & More handle family law cases?

Law & More is a Dutch law firm with offices in Eindhoven and Amsterdam. Our family lawyers act for clients throughout the Netherlands, including internationally mobile clients and clients living abroad who are party to proceedings before a Dutch court.

Our work covers the division of matrimonial property, including real estate, investments and cross-border assets; divorces involving business ownership and DGA structures, with corporate law advice from within the firm; jurisdiction and applicable law in international divorces; parental authority, care arrangements and the parenting plan; spousal and child maintenance where the income is not a simple salary; and mediation where you prefer to settle rather than litigate. Tax structuring is outside our practice; where a settlement has tax consequences, we work alongside your tax adviser.

In summary

• A divorce becomes complex through a business, significant or cross-border assets, pensions, an international element or a dispute about the children.
• Brussels II ter decides which court has jurisdiction; the Netherlands does not apply Rome III, and a Dutch court applies Dutch law to the divorce itself (Article 10:56 BW).
• Matrimonial property, maintenance and child abduction each have their own international rules, so several instruments can apply to one divorce.
• Pension equalisation is still governed by the WVPS; the bill to replace it has not been adopted.
• Choose a firm on specialisation, in-house corporate and international expertise, language, and the lawyer who will actually handle your case.

Frequently asked questions

If you are deciding whom to instruct, we are happy to discuss your case and what it is likely to involve, so that you can compare firms on substance rather than on a profile page. Unsure where you stand? Tell us about your situation. We will let you know your options within one working day.