Whether you may file for divorce via a court of law in the Netherlands depends on your and your spouse’s place of residence and nationality. If you and your spouse both have the Dutch nationality, you may file for divorce in the Netherlands wherever in the world you reside.

If one of you or both of you do not have the Dutch nationality, you can still get divorced in the Netherlands if you or your spouse is resident in the Netherlands.

However, in both situations, this is subject to the condition that the divorce was not first filed in a different country. If this was the case, you cannot file for divorce in the Netherlands.

In all other cases, with very rare exceptions, it is not possible to get divorced in the Netherlands if you live abroad. For example, if you were married in the Netherlands, you have the Dutch nationality but your spouse does not, and you both live abroad. This also applies if you both agree to file for divorce in the Netherlands.

Finally: even if you are not permitted by law to file for divorce in the Netherlands, some issues regarding divorce, such as division and equalisation issues and/or determining maintenance may be settled in the Netherlands in some cases.

A non-competition clause must always be agreed in writing. In principle, a non-competition clause in a temporary contract concluded after 1 January 2015 is not valid. This is not the case if specific significant business interests were explained in the clause in this specific case (and are actually significant).

In principle, in permanent contracts (non-temporary), the clauses agreed apply and these are binding to the employee. However, a valid clause may still be deemed unreasonable or objectionable. In such an event, the employee may request the court of law to restrict or void the clause.

Disinheritance means that you were excluded from the inheritance in the will and testament, but you are an heir by law. In some cases, disinherited persons can still exercise certain rights. Children who were disinherited are always still entitled to the statutory share. This concerns a sum of money that amounts to half of the sum that would have been inherited if the person was not disinherited.

A spouse or registered partner that was disinherited is not entitled to a statutory share. However, such a partner has a number of practical rights, such as the right to temporary continued use of the home and contents or even permanent usufruct of the home or other goods. If you are disinherited, this does not mean you are always left empty-handed.

As an heir, you can personally determine what to do with an inheritance (estate). You may reject it, accept it ‘as is’ or accept it as a beneficiary. Rejection means you waive any right or entitlement to both the revenue and expenses (debt) of the estate. In that event you will not receive anything, but you are also not liable for any debts or expenses.

Accepting an estate as is means that you accept both the ensuing revenue and expenses. It means all assets and liabilities are now yours. For heirs under the age of 18, acceptance of an estate in this way is not possible by law. Please remember that certain actions (such as, in some cases, selling goods that are part of the estate) may constitute acceptance as is.

Beneficiary acceptance means your own funds and assets are safe. Your income or wealth cannot be claimed by any creditors of the deceased. Any sums payable from the deceased’s estate will be paid only if the estate has sufficient funds. Such acceptance as a beneficiary only is generally a preferred option if the heir suspects that the liabilities exceed the assets.

Heirs who do not reject will have to jointly accept responsibility for settlement of the inheritance in order to divide the estate.

An executor, if appointed by will and testament, is responsible for settlement of the inheritance. The executor first prepares a description of the assets and goods, pays any sums payable and debts, and divides the remainder. The executor is responsible for further settlement and the heirs must make their claims to the executor.