Registering a divorce in the civil registry in the Netherlands

Has a judge has agreed to your divorce (echtscheiding)? Then you and your partner will be sent a copy of the final order (echtscheidingsbeschikking). When does your divorce become final? Once you have registered the final order in the municipality’s civil registry (burgerlijke stand van de gemeente).

You can register the final order in the Register of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships (burgerlijke stand van de gemeente). Do this at the municipality where you were married. This must be done within 6 months of the court ruling. When you have done this you are legally divorced.

This is how it works for you

Your (future) place of residence falls under:

Municipality of Smallingerland

Here is some information from your municipality.

Municipality of Smallingerland: Registering a divorce in the civil registry

Divorced in the Netherlands

Are you divorced in the Netherlands? Then your lawyer will send the divorce decree to the municipality where you got married. The municipality will then register your divorce. Do you live in a different municipality than where you got married? The municipality passes this on to your municipality of residence.

Divorced abroad

Are you divorced abroad and do you live in the Netherlands? Then you must have your foreign divorce registered in the Municipal Personal Records Database (BRP). You can do this at the municipality where you are registered.

Registering your divorce with the municipality is free. Do you need proof of the divorce? A copy or extract of the divorce certificate costs the rate set by the government for a civil status extract.

Once the municipality has received the documents, it will register the divorce as soon as possible. The divorce becomes official as soon as the municipality registers it in the civil registry.