Will I pay less alimony if I take care of the children for more days?

Yes. If you spend more days a week with your child, you can pay less child alimony. In the Netherlands this is called 'care discount'. This discount is based on the average number of days per week (including holidays) that you care of the children. The idea behind it is that on those days the parent who pays the fixed costs (school, sports, clothing etc.) for the child does not incur any costs for the daily things like food. If you care for the children less than 1 day a week: 5%. At an average of 1 day per week: 15 At an average of 2 days a week: 25 At an average of 3 days a week: 35 The minimum is 5 %, because parents have a right and an obligation towards each other and towards the child to ensure that there is contact, and so the parent could have incurred at least that cost. Exceptions are of course possible. For example, if the parent with a care arrangement or visitation arrangement does not fulfil his or her obligation to contact the child. In that case, the court could assume a 0% care discount.

Do we need a parenting plan?

Dutch law requires that in the case of minor children (younger than eighteen), the requesting party must submit a parenting plan to the court. The plan must be signed by both parties.

When is the divorce final?

The divorce is not final until the divorce decree has been registered with the municipality where you got married. Registration can take place after three months from the date of the divorce decree. After those three months, you first need to ask the court for a statement that no one appealed the divorce itself. (There might be an appeal from one or both parties against the other decisions.) If both parties agree in writing, the decision can also be registered earlier.

How soon can we be divorced?

If you have a divorce agreement (and if you have children: also a parenting plan), it's a matter of weeks. The court will issue an order without first discussing the case at a hearing.

What if I do not want to divorce?

In the Netherlands, you cannot prevent your spouce from getting a divorce, if that's what he or she wants. The court will grant the request to get a divorce, and will not require any specific reason for the divorce. One only has to say that the marriage has been permanently disrupted.

Is child abduction a criminal offence?

In the Netherlands it is a criminal act to keep a child from the person(s) who has custody over the child. It is called 'withdrawal from authority'. This criminal act is described in article 279 of the Dutch Criminal Law . The Dutch prosecutor's office has written a guideline about what kind of punishment it will demand in criminal cases about withdrawal from authority. You can read this guideline on the website of the government. The fourth category of cases refers to international child abduction. In 2019 the Dutch Appeal Court in The Hague has imposed a sentence to a father for international child abduction. He was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 42 months. He had taken the children from the mother when they were 3 and 8 years old. After that he had taken them to other locations and had changed their names. As a result the mother did not know where the children were for a period of 11 years. You can read this decision on the website of the Dutch courts.

Which countries have signed the Convention?

U can see which countries have signed The Convention and the date on which they did on the website of the HCCH : https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=24 The HCCH made a spreadsheet showing acceptances of accessions to the Child Abduction Convention: https://assets.hcch.net/docs/d796ab1c-7137-4376-8564-3dcd7d078e49.pdf The Convention is by definition in force between all the States that have ratified the Convention. If a State has become a member through the accession procedure of art. 38 of the Convention, but has not ratified the Convention, you must check if the other State has accepted the accession of the other state. If one State has acceded before the other State, the first State must accept the accession of the second State. If the home country of the child is not a member, but the country where the child is currently staying is a member, you can still use the Convention and ask for a return decision in the country where the child is staying. The U.S. State Department keeps track of countries that enforce the Convention and maintains a similar website: https://travel.state.gov/content/childabduction/english/country/hague-partycountries.html So you will have to check the date of accession, date of ratification and possible acceptance of the accession to find out if there is a treaty basis between the two countries.

What is International Child Abduction?

There are two different ways in which a parent can abduct the child. The first is by taking the child to another state without the consent of the other parent. This is only the case if the other parent has (joint) custody over the child. The other is by not returning the child to the home state, without the consent of the other parent. Again, the other parent must have (joint) custody, to make this a case of international child abduction. This kind of abduction can happen for instance after spending a holiday in another country.

Is International Child Abduction a criminal act?

In the Netherlands it is a criminal act to keep a child from the person(s) who has custody over the child. It is called 'withdrawal from authority'. This criminal act is described in article 279 of the Dutch Criminal Law . The Dutch prosecutor's office has written a guideline about what kind of punishment it will demand in criminal cases about withdrawal from authority. You can read this guideline on the website of the government. The fourth category of cases refers to international child abduction. In 2019 the Dutch Appeal Court in The Hague has imposed a sentence to a father for international child abduction. He was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of 42 months. He had taken the children from the mother when they were 3 and 8 years old. After that he had taken them to other locations and had changed their names. As a result the mother did not know where the children were for a period of 11 years. You can read this decision on the website of the Dutch courts.

What does ‘Habitual Residence’ mean?

The Convention does not give a definition of 'habitual residence'. But it is evident that member states need to use a unambiguous interpretation of the Convention. The court decisions of the European Court of Justice gives several criteria to determin the childs habitual residence. A child's habitual residence corresponds to where, in fact, is the center of his life. It concerns the place that expresses a certain integration of the child in a social and family environment. It is about the place that expresses a certain integration of the child in a social and family environment. It is about the place that expresses a certain integration of the child in a social and family environment and the relocation of the family to that state, the nationality of the child, the place and circumstances under which the child attends school, the child's language skills and family and social ties in that state.

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