မိသားစုရှေ့နေ
နယ်သာလန်၌တည်၏

What does the law of persons and family law cover?

The law of persons and family law (personen- en familierecht) governs legal relationships within a family: marriage, registered partnership, parentage, parental authority, contact and maintenance. Family law and youth law (jeugdrecht) fall under civil law, and the rules are largely set out in ဒတ်ချ် အရပ်ဘက်ဥပဒေ စာအုပ် ၂.

Family law often touches on other areas of law. Think of the residence rights of a foreign partner, the division of a business or the lease of the family home. A family law lawyer brings these subjects together in one approach, so that arrangements on one point do not create a disadvantage on another.

Youth law concerns the protection of children. If a child's development is seriously threatened, the juvenile court can order a family supervision order (ondertoezichtstelling) (Article 1:255 of the Dutch Civil Code). This usually happens at the request of the Raad voor de Kinderbescherming (the Dutch Child Protection Board). The measure lasts no longer than one year and can be extended each time by no more than one year. Parents can be assisted by a lawyer in such proceedings.

What do you need to arrange when your marriage, partnership or cohabitation ends?

A marriage can only be ended through the court, whereas a registered partnership without minor children can also be ended out of court. Cohabitants have no statutory divorce procedure; for them, what is in the cohabitation agreement (samenlevingscontract) matters most.

The only ground for divorce is the irretrievable breakdown (duurzame ontwrichting) of the marriage (Article 1:151 of the Dutch Civil Code). You can file the divorce petition jointly or on your own. The divorce must be registered in the civil registry (burgerlijke stand) within six months after the decision has become final (Article 1:163 of the Dutch Civil Code). If that does not happen, the decision lapses and you are still married.

Partners without minor children can end their registered partnership by mutual consent (Article 1:80c of the Dutch Civil Code). A lawyer or civil-law notary co-signs that termination agreement. If you have minor children together, the dissolution of the registered partnership goes through the court.

For the divorce procedure, from petition to divorce settlement (echtscheidingsconvenant), we refer you to our page on the ကွာရှင်းရှေ့နေ. If you are separating after cohabiting, read our article on separating after cohabiting without marriage.

How do you record arrangements about the children?

Parents with joint parental authority who separate record their arrangements about the children in a parenting plan. That plan has been mandatory since 1 March 2009, and in a divorce it is a standard part of the petition (Article 815 of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure).

The parenting plan contains at least the division of care and upbringing tasks, the way you inform each other and the costs of the children. Cohabitants with joint parental authority also draw up a parenting plan when their relationship ends (Article 1:247a of the Dutch Civil Code). Any children you have are involved in drawing it up, in a way that suits their age.

What does parental authority mean after a divorce?

Parental authority (ouderlijk gezag) is the power to make decisions about a child's upbringing, education, medical care and assets. Joint parental authority in principle continues after a divorce (Article 1:251 of the Dutch Civil Code).

Joint parental authority does not automatically mean that care is divided equally. The court only grants sole parental authority if the child risks becoming trapped or lost between the parents, or if this is otherwise necessary in the interests of the child (Article 1:251a of the Dutch Civil Code). In a disagreement about, for example, the choice of school, a parent can ask the court to decide (Article 1:253a of the Dutch Civil Code). You can read more under the term မိဘအခွင့်အာဏာ.

How does the contact arrangement work?

A child has the right to contact with both parents, and a parent has the right and the duty to have contact with the child (Article 1:377a of the Dutch Civil Code). If parents cannot agree, the court sets a contact arrangement and only denies contact on limited, statutory grounds.

If the other parent does not comply with the arrangement, the court can change it or impose a penalty payment (dwangsom). If one parent moves a long distance away, consent is required from the other parent or the court.

How is maintenance determined and how long does it last?

Maintenance follows from the needs of the person receiving it and the ability to pay of the person paying it. Courts calculate using the standards of the Expertgroep Alimentatienormen (the expert group on maintenance standards), known as the Trema standards (Tremanormen).

ကလေးထောက်ပံ့ကြေးကို ဘယ်လိုတွက်ချက်သလဲ။

Child maintenance follows from the needs of the child and the ability to pay of both parents, with a care discount (zorgkorting) for the days the child stays with the paying parent. The amount is indexed by law every year on 1 January (Article 1:402a of the Dutch Civil Code).

Parents have a duty to maintain their minor children (Article 1:404 of the Dutch Civil Code). Between the ages of 18 and 21, that financial contribution continues for living costs and study (Article 1:395a of the Dutch Civil Code). Child maintenance takes priority over partner maintenance (Article 1:400 of the Dutch Civil Code).

လုပ်ဖော်ကိုင်ဖက် ထိန်းသိမ်းမှုက ဘယ်လောက်ကြာအောင် ခံမှာလဲ။

After a divorce, the court can award partner maintenance under Article 1:157 of the Dutch Civil Code. For requests filed on or after 1 January 2020, the duration is in principle half the length of the marriage, with a maximum of five years.

For requests from before 2020, other periods apply, often 12 years. The court can change maintenance if circumstances change, for example through loss of work. If child maintenance is not paid, the Landelijk Bureau Inning Onderhoudsbijdragen (LBIO, the Dutch national agency for collecting maintenance payments) can collect it.

How do you arrange acknowledgement, denial of paternity and a change of name?

Legal parentage arises through birth within a marriage or registered partnership, through acknowledgement (erkenning), through judicial establishment or through adoption. Who is the legal parent determines, among other things, the duty of maintenance, inheritance rights and the child's surname.

Acknowledgement takes place before the civil registrar or a civil-law notary (Articles 1:203 and 1:204 of the Dutch Civil Code). For a child under 16, the mother's consent is required. A child aged 12 or older must also consent. If the mother refuses, a family law lawyer can ask the court for substitute consent. Since 1 January 2023, acknowledgement by an unmarried partner in principle automatically leads to joint parental authority.

Denial of parentage (ontkenning van het ouderschap) goes through the court (Article 1:200 of the Dutch Civil Code). The mother and the legal parent file the request within one year after they learn that the legal parent is probably not the biological parent. The child has three years for this from the moment it learns this.

You apply for a change of surname to Justis, part of the Ministry of Justice and Security (the Dutch screening authority). For children born on or after 1 January 2024, parents can also choose a double surname when registering the birth.

Which matrimonial property regime applies to your marriage?

Anyone who marries on or after 1 January 2018 without a prenuptial agreement is married in a limited community of property (beperkte gemeenschap van goederen) (Article 1:94 of the Dutch Civil Code). Anyone who married before that date is in principle subject to the general community of property (algehele gemeenschap van goederen).

In the limited community, assets from before the marriage remain private, as do inheritances and gifts. What you build up during the marriage does fall into the community. On divorce, the date the petition is filed is the reference date (Article 1:99 of the Dutch Civil Code).

You record a prenuptial agreement with a civil-law notary. If it contains a periodic settlement clause (periodiek verrekenbeding) that was never carried out, settlement can still follow on divorce. A family law lawyer reviews your prenuptial agreement before you negotiate, so that you know clearly what there is to divide.

What is involved in international family cases?

In an international family case, you answer two questions: which court has jurisdiction and which law that court applies.

Within the European Union, jurisdiction follows from Regulation (EU) 2019/1111, the Brussels II-ter Regulation, which mainly connects to habitual residence. For maintenance, Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 and the 2007 Hague Maintenance Protocol apply. If a child is taken abroad without consent, return can follow under the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention. We handle these cases in Dutch and in English.

When is a lawyer mandatory in family law proceedings?

A lawyer is mandatory for a divorce and for maintenance, because only a lawyer may file the petition (Article 278 of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure). For some requests about parental authority or contact, that obligation does not apply.

In family law cases, the family law lawyer files the petition with the competent district court. That is usually the court where you, your partner or your children live.

The other party can file a statement of defence; in a divorce, six weeks are usually available for this. An oral hearing at the court follows. Children aged 12 and older are invited for a hearing with the judge (kindgesprek). In urgent cases, the court can make provisional arrangements (voorlopige voorzieningen), for example about the home.

When do you choose mediation?

With mediation, you look for good arrangements together under the guidance of a neutral mediator. A family law lawyer can also act as mediator, but then takes no side. We can advise you alongside a mediation process, so that you know what you are signing. A lawyer then submits the arrangements to the court. Read more about mediation in a divorce.