With questions about children, a relationship breakdown or maintenance, it is important to choose the right procedure. A specific decision about school, housing or contact sometimes calls for a different approach than a request for a complete change of parental authority. From our office in The Hague you can discuss your family law question with Arslan Advocaten.
What can we assess your question on?
You can contact us about separation, maintenance, arrangements concerning children, parental authority and the financial settlement of your relationship. Read the explanation of divorce or choose your topic in the overview of family law.
Have you already received post from a court, the Child Care and Protection Board (Raad voor de Kinderbescherming) or a certified institution (gecertificeerde instelling)? Keep the complete document and mention the hearing date and the date of receipt when you contact us. If a deadline applies, do not wait until every other document is complete.
Contact our office in The Hague
Address: Paletplein 80, 2526 GZ Den Haag. Telephone: 070 450 03 00. You can also contact us via the website. Mention any hearing date or other specific deadline.
For a substantive engagement, the work and the costs are discussed. Also read the explanation of costs and possible legal aid. Choosing our office does not automatically determine which court will hear your case; separate rules on jurisdiction apply to that.
This page is short and practical. The substantive explanation of divorce, maintenance, parental authority and contact can be found on the national pages divorce and family law. Here you will find what applies specifically to The Hague: where your case is heard, and which two procedures you will only find at the District Court of The Hague.
Which court hears a divorce from The Hague?
Family cases from The Hague are heard by the Family team of the District Court of The Hague, and exclusively at its location in The Hague: the Palace of Justice (Paleis van Justitie) at Prins Clauslaan 60, 2595 AJ Den Haag.
That "exclusively" is the difference from a tenancy or employment case. The District Court of The Hague has three court locations — The Hague, Leiden and Gouda — but only subdistrict cases are heard at the Leiden and Gouda locations. A divorce, a request concerning parental authority or contact, maintenance or the division of the community of property is not a subdistrict case. Those cases are therefore always heard at the Prins Clauslaan, even if you live in Leiden, Katwijk, Gouda or Alphen aan den Rijn.
The district for which the District Court of The Hague has jurisdiction comprises three regions:
| Region | Municipalities |
|---|---|
| The Hague | Delft, Den Haag, Leidschendam-Voorburg, Midden-Delfland, Pijnacker-Nootdorp, Rijswijk, Wassenaar, Westland, Zoetermeer |
| Leiden | Hillegom, Kaag en Braassem, Katwijk, Leiden, Leiderdorp, Lisse, Noordwijk, Oegstgeest, Teylingen, Voorschoten, Zoeterwoude |
| Gouda | Alphen aan den Rijn, Bodegraven-Reeuwijk, Gouda, Krimpenerwaard, Nieuwkoop, Waddinxveen, Zuidplas |
Appeals in family cases go to the Court of Appeal of The Hague.
Do I need a lawyer for a divorce in The Hague?
Yes — a divorce petition must be filed with the court by a lawyer; you cannot litigate yourself at the court.
The legal basis is simple. Article 1:150 of the Civil Code provides that a divorce is pronounced at the request of one of the spouses or at their joint request. Article 1:151 of the Civil Code gives the only ground: a divorce is pronounced at the request of one of the spouses if the marriage has irretrievably broken down. So you do not have to show fault or prove a reason — but the petition must reach the court through a lawyer.
This can be done in two ways, and in practice the distinction determines both the duration and the costs:
| Form | How it works |
|---|---|
| Joint petition | you submit one petition together, with the arrangements you have made together; often with one lawyer or mediator |
| Defended petition | one of you files, the other puts forward a defence and can make independent requests; each has their own lawyer |
If it concerns more than the divorce itself — maintenance, the home, the division of the community of property — those points are dealt with as ancillary provisions in the same proceedings. In a decision of the District Court of The Hague of 23 December 2025 (ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2025:27027), for example, this happened for the provisional care arrangement, child and spousal maintenance, the continued use of the home and the division of the marital community of property at the same time. The same case also shows how children are dealt with: the minor was given the opportunity to make his views known, but did not make use of it.
What must the petition contain if we have children?
If you have minor children together, the divorce petition must contain a parenting plan signed by both parents.
This is laid down in article 815(2) of the Code of Civil Procedure: the petition contains a parenting plan signed by both spouses with regard to their joint minor children over whom they do or do not jointly exercise parental authority, and with regard to minor children over whom they jointly exercise parental authority on the basis of article 1:253sa or 1:253t of the Civil Code. The content requirements are set out in paragraph 3; paragraph 6 offers a way out if the plan cannot reasonably be submitted.
In practice, the parenting plan is the point at which divorces stall. It concerns the division of care, the way in which you inform each other and the costs of the children — and those are precisely the subjects on which you disagree at that moment. Two routes help with this in The Hague: mediation, and the procedure below.
By way of illustration. Two parents agree on the divorce itself, but not on the division of the holidays and the amount of child maintenance. They postpone filing for months because they think the petition can only be filed once they agree on everything. That is not the case: the law requires a parenting plan, and offers a way out if that is not reasonably possible — the remaining points of dispute can be put before the court. Postponing only costs time here. This is a hypothetical situation illustrating the rule, not a case handled by our firm.
What is the joint parental access procedure at the District Court of The Hague?
This is a procedure that parents bring before the court together with a single participation form, and it can be started at the District Court of The Hague.
The joint parental access procedure (procedure gezamenlijke toegang ouders, PGTO) has existed since 1 April 2021 and is intended for parents with children under eighteen who are separating or have already separated, and who want to put the subjects on which they disagree before the court together. Since 1 October 2023, the District Court of The Hague has continued the pilot; cases can therefore still be brought.
What can be discussed in it: whether the parents keep parental authority together, with which parent the children are registered, the division of the days the children spend with each parent, how you keep each other informed, child maintenance, spousal maintenance, who may continue to live in the home and the division of the joint belongings.
The difference from ordinary proceedings is the set-up: as parents you stand side by side instead of opposite each other, the court actively looks for a solution with you and your lawyer or lawyers, and only if you cannot reach agreement together does the court decide. The procedure has short time limits, so you get clarity sooner.
Conditions apply: your dispute must concern one of the subjects mentioned, you want to keep your relationship as parents as good as possible in the interests of the children, and you are willing to talk to each other. A case is brought using the participation form and the procedural rules of the District Court of The Hague — so this goes through your lawyer.
My child has been taken abroad — where do I need to go?
To the District Court of The Hague: it is the only court in the Netherlands with jurisdiction to hear cases concerning the return of an internationally abducted child.
That is a feature of The Hague not by custom but by law. Article 11(1) of the International Child Abduction (Implementation) Act (Uitvoeringswet internationale kinderontvoering) provides that, without prejudice to the jurisdiction of the preliminary relief judge in The Hague in summary proceedings, at first instance only the juvenile judge of the District Court of The Hague has jurisdiction to hear all cases concerning the compulsory surrender of an internationally abducted child to the person entitled to parental authority, and concerning the return of such a child across the Dutch border. That juvenile judge can also include in his decision arrangements on parental responsibility that the parties make between themselves during the proceedings.
If the case is not about return but about the arrangement and exercise of contact in international cases, then under paragraph 2 jurisdiction lies with the juvenile judge of the court in whose area the child has its actual residence; if the child has no actual residence or it cannot be established, the District Court of The Hague again has jurisdiction.
These cases are urgent. Do not wait until there is clarity about the rest of the divorce: the return application is legally separate from the divorce and from the question of who is ultimately right about parental authority or contact. The longer a child stays in the new situation, the more factual circumstances arise that will play a role in the assessment. If your child is taken abroad without your consent or is not brought back after a holiday, call the same day — and mention that it is an international case, so that the assessment does not end up in the ordinary queue.
How do you contact the office in The Hague?
Call 070 4500 300 during office hours — Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:30 — or use the form at https://arslan.nl/contact/.
The head office of Arslan Advocaten is at Paletplein 80, 2526 GZ Den Haag. In addition, there is an office in The Hague at Goeverneurlaan 445, 2523 CB, on the same telephone number. That office works by appointment only. Where your appointment takes place is agreed with you when it is made. Both addresses can be found on the page The Hague office.
Family cases are rarely purely legal. Besides Dutch, you can also be helped here in Turkish, Polish and English — when making the appointment, indicate in which language you want to hold the conversation. Someone who can explain their situation in their own language tells more, and it is precisely those details that often determine the outcome.