Explanation and procedure divorce online

Our office has been providing quick consent divorce via the internet for more than 28 years. For whom is this option available and what is the procedure?

You both fully agree that a divorce petition should be filed. You have reached agreement on all matters of importance in reasonable and equal consultation. You either both have Dutch nationality or have demonstrably lived in the Netherlands for 12 months, or only one of you has Dutch nationality but has demonstrably lived in the Netherlands for six months. You have divided the estate together or you are confident that the division will take place in good consultation. There is clarity about the care of the children, with whom the children will live, access arrangements, the allocation of rental rights or the enjoyment of the joint (marital) home and agreements have been made about any alimony and pension division. It is unimportant where you live, as the Amsterdam court always has jurisdiction to handle your divorce request because in the request we indicate that you choose domicile at our office (only for the procedure).

In other words, if there is no difference of opinion between the two of you about the manner and consequences of a divorce, then divorce via the Internet offers the opportunity to settle the divorce procedure quickly and cost-effectively. Naturally, we carefully check that you both fully agree, that you are both aware of your rights and that there is an equal distribution. Your divorce will be handled by an experienced lawyer and therefore not by an inexperienced intern or lawyer. We do what we promise. Absolutely no other costs are charged, which is the case with many other law firms. The involvement of a lawyer is still mandatory for a divorce.

BEWARE: Anyone can call themselves a legal advisor, but a legal advisor is not a lawyer. So do your research if you engage someone outside of us and realize that a lawyer is mandatory for a divorce and must therefore also be engaged after the legal advisor. We often work together with mediators.

Both sides must be open in all honesty and have room and willingness to compromise. Only then is there a correct basis for making agreements about the intended divorce and its consequences. And only then am I, as a lawyer, free to jointly effect a divorce for you. It is then important that both parties provide full cooperation so as not to hinder the progress of the procedure. If it is established that this is no longer the case and we get the feeling that one of the parties is being disadvantaged, our office will no longer be able to process the divorce upon joint request.

Both spouses are approached and treated equally. If, for whatever reason, disagreement arises about the consequences of the divorce or the method of divorce, you will be referred to another lawyer at a different office.

You start with us by completing the Divorce Intake Form. The correct receipt of the form you completed will be confirmed and you will immediately receive a FREE draft divorce agreement and/or FREE draft parenting plan drawn up based on your details. You will also receive the invoice immediately. If you do not immediately receive something by email, please let us know at as something may have gone wrong with your registration. Correspondence can be done by post or email. After payment of the invoice and receipt of the required documents (see below), we will draw up the drafts of the divorce application as quickly as possible (usually the same working day) and send them to you.

Any mistake as to the identity of the divorcing parties must be excluded. For this reason it should be checked. This often happens online via a video connection, but you can also come to the office. This prevents a divorce petition from being initiated without one of the partners knowing about it.

The divorce procedure takes place via a petition to the Amsterdam District Court. As a lawyer, I request on behalf of both of you that the court pronounces the divorce and (if applicable) confirms what you have agreed on regarding the consequences of the divorce.

From the moment the petition is submitted to the court, it takes approximately two weeks before the Amsterdam court issues the divorce decree. In many other courts this currently takes about 8 to 10 weeks or longer. Because it concerns a joint request and there is agreement regarding the consequences, there is no need for an oral hearing. It is good for you to know that the court will hardly check any agreement. After the ruling, you will receive a deed of consent together with the divorce decree that you must sign. This deed means that no appeal will be filed against the decision, so that the three-month appeal period does not have to be waited for. I will then send the decision with the deed of resignation to the civil registry of the place where you were married for registration of the decision in the marriage register. That takes a few days to a week. The municipality of The Hague often takes a little longer for marriages concluded abroad. We will send you confirmation from the municipality with the registration date because that is the official date of divorce. The entire procedure can therefore normally be completed in 2-4 weeks, depending on your speed.

This option of divorce via the internet is also suitable for legal separation (divorce of table and bed/scheiding van tafel en bed). The consequences of this divorce are different, but the court procedure is exactly the same. Only the final registration takes place at the court’s matrimonial property register instead of at the municipality. The procedure can also be used to terminate the registered partnership (beëindiging geregistreerd partnerschap). If there are children, this must also be done through the court.

Of course, online divorce is available to everyone, including people of the same sex. Solely to avoid confusion, this site mainly talks about the more common situation, and therefore talks about man and woman, but everyone is welcome.

Children

The main rule is that after divorce, the parents retain joint parental custody, unless they both request, or one of them requests, that in the interests of the child, parental custody be vested in one of the parents. This ensures that the joint responsibility that the parents had towards the children during the marriage continues in principle after the marriage. It is recommended that you retain parental custody together.

If you wish that only one of you will have parental custody over the minor children, an interest of the child must be indicated.

Children over the age of 12 are given the opportunity to express their opinion to the court about the agreements regarding parental custody and access arrangements. Children from 12 to 18 years old can actually be summoned by the Court, but your child can be prevented from coming to court by having your child over the age of twelve complete and sign a statement drawn up by me which will require a further visit or message to makes the court redundant. This statement will also be sent to you free of charge. Submission of the child declaration prevents the procedure from being delayed. This only applies to an agreement about custody, child support or access to children over the age of 12. You can download the Child Declaration here.

In the case of continuation of joint parental custody, the responsibility for raising the children is shared. The person with whom the children live then generally makes the decision on matters that concern the children.

If parental custody is not continued jointly, the parent who is not charged with parental custody has the right to contact, information and consultation. A fixed contact arrangement offers both parties and the children basic security.

Co-parenting goes a lot further than joint custody. Co-parenting means involvement in the daily lives of the children for both parents. They must be able to make compromises on matters such as the distribution of time, costs, school choice, operations, vacations, etc. and honor these agreements. Click here for the Model Co-parenting plan.

In every divorce involving children, a parenal plan must be submitted which must include a minimum of agreements about:

– dividing the care and upbringing tasks or the regulation of the right and obligation of access;

– the method of providing information and consultation on important issues, including the financial assets of the children;

– the arrangement of the costs of care and upbringing

Here is a link to an example of a parental plan. The agreements on the matters in the example are mandatory.

If you complete the intake form for the online divorce, you will receive a free draft parenting plan based on your data.

If you both have Dutch nationality but live abroad, it is possible to submit a joint divorce application to the court in Amsterdam. Such requests do not need to be submitted to the court in The Hague, as you choose to reside at our office for the procedure.

If the marriage took place abroad, the extract from the marriage register must also be shown. If that is not possible, the court will also be satisfied with showing the original marriage certificate. The documents must be provided with a translation by a sworn interpreter, unless drawn up in English, French or German. In addition, for the purpose of treatment in the Netherlands, you must make a choice regarding the application of Dutch law to the divorce. This choice may have consequences for, for example, the rules on alimony.

Finally, if you live outside the Netherlands, I need to be sure that both of you actually want a divorce. Your wish to divorce and your identity can be established by an independent third party (lawyer, notary, embassy, ​​etc.), but also via a video connection with the office.

If the marriage was concluded abroad, the divorce decree will be registered in The Hague. The divorce decree of the court is not sufficient for the final divorce. Furthermore, a divorce where the marriage took place outside the Netherlands must usually also be reported to the Civil Registry registers there, insofar as the country in question recognizes the divorce. I advise you to verify this in the country in question.

Other provisions

If you are married in community of goods, both can make claims on this community of property up to a maximum of 50% of its value. You are therefore free to settle for less than exactly 50% of the value, but it is wise to include this in a covenant and have the written agreements attached to the divorce petition. For example, an over-distribution from one of the partners can be regarded as a donation by the tax authorities if no consideration is given in return, which may result in an obligation to pay gift tax. In addition to mentioning the consideration, this designation as a donation can be overcome, among other things, by including in the covenant that a part is relinquished for emotional and/or moral reasons. You would do well to indicate the reason(s). It may be advisable to inquire with the tax authorities or a tax specialist about any tax consequences of your appointment.

The community is dissolved on the date of the filing of the petition for divorce. You will find this date later in the divorce decree. The dissolution applies directly between the two of you, but only has third-party effect if the divorce is registered in the marriage register or if the filing of the petition is registered in the marital property register.

If an owned house is allocated to one of you, please note that the transfer after the divorce must take place at the notary. The notary will then draw up a deed of division and any new mortgage deed. This procedure is separate from the divorce and you must arrange it yourself. If there is a prenuptial agreement and the house must be transferred from one person to the other, it is also very advisable to be properly informed by the notary and to inform us. Please also note that if the ex-partner continues to pay (co-)pay the mortgage, this can under certain circumstances be seen as disguised alimony, which may have tax consequences. Consult your tax specialist for this. You must also inform the pension institution(s) yourself of the method of pension distribution.

You are free to waive your right to alimony. If you actually waive alimony and one of you would have to fall back on social assistance benefits, the Social Services (Sociale Dienst) have an obligation to recover. This means that the Sociale Dienst must independently investigate whether alimony should have been paid after all. If the conclusion is that alimony should have been paid, the Sociale Dienst will attempt to collect it.

If you make use of the divorce by joint request as described on this page, you would be wise to have an alimony calculation made. Only in this way can it be determined whether or not alimony is rightly waived and whether a specific agreed alimony amount is correct. The alimony calculation is not included in the price.

The rental rights or rights of use of the marital home can be allocated by the court to either party. You can express your decision on the form. Your choice will be indicated in the petition. The formulation only relates to the right of residence and is therefore separate from any division of the surplus value of the home (in the case of an owned house). If certain important agreements have been made, it is important for the legal force to include these agreements in an agreement. A sample agreement will be sent to you immediately after completing the intake form.

If all documents are complete and you fully agree, the request will be submitted to the court. After approximately two weeks you will receive the decision from us immediately after it has been issued. You do not need to contact the office before then to discuss the status. The decision will be sent to you immediately upon arrival. If you wish to claim an (equal) share of the pension accrued by your partner (in principle 50% of the pension accrued during the marriage), you must do so no later than two years after the divorce has been registered with the Registry to inform the partner’s pension institution in order to obtain an independent right. Your pension institution can send you a clear brochure about the pension with registration forms. Consult with your pension institution how you should deal with the survivor’s pension. This is a different pension than the old-age pension. At one pension institution, renunciation can be made, but the accrued part is forfeited to the pension institution, at the other it is added to the old age pension. Your decision on whether or not to divide the survivor’s pension will depend on the actions and position of your pension institution. The Tax Authorities have created a website especially for divorcing couples where a lot of information can be found: https://www.belastingdienst-scheiden.nl.

The following list may help you with regard to the matters on which agreements may need to be made:

• Regulations regarding minor children: custody, residence, contact, information, possible co-parenting

• Alimony for ex-partner and children

• Use of marital home until divorce (owner-occupied home, rental home), usage allowance

• Delivery of personal goods, such as clothes, jewelry, books, photos

• Matrimonial home (owner-occupied home, rental home)• Distribution of contents based on your own inventory list(s)

• Company (shares, assets and liabilities)

• Car, boat, caravan, etc.

• Life insurance

• Debt and indemnification

• Bank accounts

• Savings, investments, securities

• Tax aspects of the marital period

• Employee credits such as savings wages

• Second home, holiday home

• Inheritance, donation

• Insurance (third party liability, health insurance, home contents, etc.)

• Other assets

• Accrued pension rights and other old age provisions.

What documents do I need?

1. a copy of your passport and, if you do not have Dutch nationality, original extracts from the population register (bevolkingsregister) of both spouses, with an indication of nationality (maximum three months old at the time the divorce petition is submitted) and also an indication of the date of entry/settlement in the Netherlands.

2. original extracts (copies) from the birth register of the minor children (town hall of birth / maximum 3 months old) and

3. an original extract (copy) from the marriage register (available at the town hall of your place of marriage / maximum 3 months old). Proof of birth registration or marriage certificate is not enough. With regard to marriages concluded abroad, it is sufficient to submit the original marriage certificate or an older extract. This document must be translated by a sworn interpreter, unless it is written in Dutch, English, French or German. When visiting the office, do not forget to bring the identification documents of both spouses (passport/driving license).

4. any covenant or list of agreements drawn up by you together, which I can attach to the petition in duplicate. I highly recommend the use of a covenant if there are important agreements. Below you will find a sample agreement from which you can copy certain articles. This will be sent to you free of charge after submitting the registration form.

Click here on the Model Divorce Agreement

If you waive the right to alimony, if the right to pension distribution is waived and/or if there is no equal division of the value of the estate (including houses, businesses, bank accounts, etc.) than expected I will receive a clear, substantiated written confirmation from both of you that you are both aware of your rights and that you consciously waive the right and for what reason(s). In such a case, there will also be personal contact about this.

5. a child declaration, if there are children older than twelve and agreements are made about custody, access or alimony. You can download the Child Declaration here.

6. a Parental Plan when there are children. Click here for an example of a Parental Plan. It must contain agreements about the care and upbringing tasks, the costs thereof, the contact arrangements and the way in which the other parent is informed and consulted about important matters. It must also be indicated that the children have been heard about the agreements. This will also be sent to you in draft form free of charge after completing the intake form.

7. if you are married under prenuptial conditions, a copy of those conditions. For the best explanation of the conditions, you can contact the notary who has drawn up the conditions in consultation with you. Often the intention of both of you at the time and the explanation given by the notary are decisive.

The costs for a mutual request for a divorce are:

• FREE OF CHARGE when your income is low
• Or from €675,-. This price also includes court costs of €314 and VAT (21 %). See for the explanation under FREE DIVORCE
• Including consensual contract and/or parenting plan: €795,-
• Additional fee for overseas domicile: €175,-

FREE DIVORCE

If your income and assets are not sufficient you might have the right to legal aid. If you are entitled to legal aid you usually only have to pay a contribution and part of the court office fees.

BUT OUR OFFICE CHARGES NOTHING. So in this case the divorce is totally free for you.

Whether you can apply for this free divorce depends on your joint income and your assets two years ago.

After the divorce the government checks if the assistance was justified. The aid must be requested in advance. We will do that for you. The request will be sent to the Raad voor Rechtsbijstand upon settlement of the divorce. If the aid is cancelled retroactively, you have to pay the regular fee.

As said a request for legal aid will be submitted by us. We need a copy of your proof of identity, your personal identity/BSN number and personal details.

If your current annual income has fallen by more than 15%, you can request a modification to the reference financial year. This form can only be used after the legal aid application has been submitted, and after the Raad voor Rechtsbijstand decision has been made. If you already know that you are eligible for legal aid and want to change the reference financial year, you should complete and send the modification to the reference financial year form.

THE COSTS FOR DIVORCE WITHOUT FINANCIAL AID

• €675,-: This price also includes court costs of €314 and VAT (21 %).
• Including consensual contract and/or parental plan: €795,-
• Additional fee for outside the Netherlands domicile: €175,-

You can speed up the process by completing the Divorce Intake form and make a payment of the required amount to the following bank account:

• NL04ABNA0433513276 at ABN AMRO, Amsterdam in the name of Mr. M.C.J. Teurlings make sure to include your surname.
• For payments from overseas use the following codes: SWIFT code ABNANL2A, IBAN code NL04ABNA0433513276.

Work will begin only after receipt of payment. You have the right to cancel your order. If you have not sent documents to us, if the draft plans have not been sent to you and if the divorce petition has not been submitted for these reasons, we will refund you the full amount paid. If you have paid and we have sent you the required documents (or some of the required documents), we will draft the documents immediately, as promised. If the divorce has been cancelled, we will only refund the court office fees, as we will have already carried out our work.