“If you go to court for a divorce, you also have to pay court fees. That is more than 300 euros, but lawyers also have to be hired,” says D66 MP Joost Sneller. “The judiciary is also currently quite burdened with all kinds of other matters, which often means you have to wait longer.”
Through the municipality
The idea is to arrange the divorce through the municipality from now on. That costs less money and causes less legal hassle. “With the municipality it is cheaper for the government, but also for the people themselves and it goes faster,” says Sneller.
The route via the municipality already applies to people with a registered partnership who want to separate.
Later today, the D66 proposal will be discussed during a debate on family law in the House of Representatives. Sneller hopes that his party colleague, outgoing minister Franc Weerwind (Legal Protection), can quickly initiate the change in the law. It must then also become clear whether a majority of the House of Representatives supports the idea.
Not for people with children
Sneller believes that only if people have minor children should the divorce be arranged through the courts. “If there are children and decisions have to be made about custody, I think it is important that a judge can independently assess this. But if two adult partners agree on the conditions, then I think we should make that as easy as possible .”
Tags: Plan divorce faster easier municipality
