DIVORCE, PROBATE, SUCCESSION
DIVORCE AND SEPARATION, CHILD SUPPORT, ALLOCATION OF PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES (CUSTODY), PARENTING TIME, DIVISION OF PROPERTY, MARRIAGE CONTRACTS
Do you have a succession case, are you involved in probate proceedings?
Do you want to settle the joint property of your spouse?
Do you have to a divorce?
– Consultancy in divorce matters, legal representation.
– Child custody, child maintenance, contact, litigation.
– Advice on succession issues, representation in probate matters.
ISSUES TO BE SETTLED IN A DIVORCE CASE
Exercise of parental rights (child custody)
It makes a difference who will have the child!
It is the parents who decide on the exercise of parental responsibility (in the old terminology: the placement of the child or custody). Unless the parents agree, the court will place the child with the parent who is best placed to ensure his or her physical, mental, and moral development. If placement with a parent is in the best interests of the child, the court may place the child with another person, provided that the person concerned has himself/herself requested placement with that parent. A change of placement may be requested if the circumstances on which the court based its decision have subsequently changed substantially and, as a result, a change of placement is in the best interests of the child.
Maintenance of the child (child support)
It does matter how much you pay!
The parent who has custody of the child provides maintenance in kind, while the parent who is separated provides maintenance primarily in cash (child maintenance). Child maintenance is decided by the court in the absence of agreement between the parents. The amount of maintenance per child is generally set at between 15% and 25% of the average income.
The total amount of maintenance that may be claimed from the parent may not exceed 50% of his/her income. If the parents have two or more children to support, the amount of maintenance should be fixed in such a way as to ensure that no one child is placed at a disadvantage compared with the other, especially if they are not raised in the same household.
Contact with the children (visit)
It makes a difference when and how much you can see your child!
A child has the right to maintain personal and direct contact with his/her separated parent. A parent who is separated from his/her child has the right and the duty to maintain contact and have regular contact with the child (right of contact). The parent or other person who has the child must ensure that contact is uninterrupted.
Use of accommodation
It makes a difference who stays in the shared home!
If one or both spouses live in the home based on ownership or tenancy, the court will decide on the use of the home on divorce, on request. The right of the spouses’ minor children to use the former joint dwelling should normally be granted to them, according to their living conditions, unless they have another permanent dwelling.
DRAFTING AND COUNTERSIGNING MARRIAGE CONTRACTS
Let’s avoid any property disputes in advance!
When a marriage is entered, the spouses become community of property for the duration of the marriage. Accordingly, the spouses have undivided joint ownership of everything they have acquired during the marriage, whether jointly or separately, except for what belongs to the separate property of one of the spouses. The community property also includes the benefits accruing to the separate property during the period of cohabitation, less the costs of its management and maintenance. In addition, any remuneration due to an inventor, innovator, author, or other creator of an intellectual creation during the period of the marital partnership shall be community property.
Married couples may settle their property relations between themselves before marriage and between spouses by contract for the duration of the marriage. The contract may specify which property is to be included in the community property or separate property, in derogation from the provisions of the Family Law Act, thus providing a clear picture of the existing situation and ruling out any future property disputes.