Acknowledgement is the legal act by which someone becomes the parent of a child they did not give birth to. It creates a family-law relationship with all that follows from it: a maintenance obligation, inheritance rights and, since 2023, parental authority.
Legal basis
Article 1:203 of the Dutch Civil Code allows acknowledgement before the birth, at the registration of the birth, or at any time afterwards, by deed executed before a registrar of civil status or a civil-law notary.
Consent is required. Where the child is under sixteen, the mother must consent in writing. Where the child is twelve or older, the child must consent as well, which means that between twelve and sixteen both consents are needed. If the mother withholds consent, the acknowledger can ask the court to substitute it, and the court will grant that unless acknowledgement would harm the mother’s relationship with the child or the child’s interests.
The 2023 change
Since 1 January 2023 acknowledgement by an unmarried partner also creates joint parental authority automatically. Before that date acknowledgement affected parentage only, and authority had to be requested separately through the authority register. Children acknowledged before 2023 are still governed by the old rule, so for them the register entry may still be missing.
What acknowledgement is not
Acknowledgement does not establish biological parentage and does not require it; a partner who is not the biological parent can acknowledge. Conversely, a biological father who has not acknowledged is not a legal parent, whatever a DNA test shows, until parentage is established by acknowledgement or by judicial determination.
Where it goes wrong
Couples who acknowledged before 2023 often assume the change applied to them retroactively. It did not. Anyone in that position should check the authority register and, where the entry is missing, make a joint request, which is a short administrative step while both parents agree and a court application once they do not.
Related terms
See also parental authority, child maintenance and contact arrangement.
Our family law practice advises on parentage, acknowledgement and authority.
