If your ex-partner owns a business and will not share the annual accounts, you have no real access to business records in a divorce, and a fair financial settlement becomes difficult. Even so, the first step is not a general request for ‘all the accounts’. Determine which claim you are investigating, what information you need for it and which documents are already available. A targeted request for relevant figures and deeds is easier to assess and can speed up the valuation.
Written by Öznur Batur (family law aspects) and Onur Arslan (property law aspects), attorneys at Arslan Advocaten. Legal review: 28 September 2026. General information is not legal advice about your own situation.
You do not need to know in advance exactly what the business is worth in order to ask the right questions. What must be clear, however, is whether the issue concerns shares, a sole proprietorship (eenmanszaak), a settlement clause (verrekenbeding), a right of reimbursement (vergoedingsrecht) or income for maintenance (alimentatie). For that foundation, see divorce with your own business.
Start with the legal question
A partner may need documents to determine whether shares fall within the community of property (gemeenschap van goederen), which profits are relevant under a settlement clause or what the financial capacity (draagkracht) for maintenance is. These are different questions that partly require different documents. A valuation expert, for example, will need several years of annual accounts and current figures, whereas for a specific contribution of private funds, bank statements and a loan agreement may be decisive.
So draw up an overview with three columns: the claim asserted, the missing fact and the document required. Add a reasonable period. This prevents a request for information from turning into an unfocused search, but also prevents you from missing an essential document.
| Question | Potentially relevant document | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the shares? | Shareholders’ register, deed of transfer | Chamber of Commerce (KVK) information is not always complete as to ownership. |
| How is the business performing? | Annual accounts, interim figures, tax returns | Needed to assess results and developments. |
| Have private and business funds been mixed? | Current account (rekening-courant), loan agreements, statements | Determines the nature and size of mutual claims. |
| Was a property held in a private limited company (bv) paid for with private funds? | Purchase deed, financing, proof of payment | Links ownership, loan and a possible claim. |
| What income is available? | Salary resolutions, dividend documents, current figures | Income is not the same as turnover or balance sheet equity. |
Check what you already lawfully have
Collect existing joint documents, your own correspondence, deeds and documents you lawfully received during the relationship. Keep a record of their origin, date and context. Do not use passwords, access or copies for which you have no authorisation; an unlawfully obtained set of files can complicate the dispute. Tell your lawyer which information you do and do not have, and how you obtained it.
Check whether an accountant previously prepared a joint overview, a tax return or a financing application. A public Chamber of Commerce registration helps to identify the structure, but it usually does not replace complete financial records. Your lawyer can determine whether a request to the other party, an expert or a procedural step is needed.
Also ask yourself which information you are actually missing. To establish that someone is a shareholder, the shareholders’ register may be more important than detailed turnover records. For a possible claim relating to a payment into the bv, a single bank transfer plus the legal basis may be decisive. For the value of shares, on the other hand, several financial years, current results, debts and intercompany transactions are needed. Distinguishing between these questions makes the request more proportionate and helps a court or expert assess why a particular document is relevant.
Requesting access to business records in a divorce: be specific and verifiable
Request specific documents in writing and explain which question they are needed for. For example: the annual accounts of the holding company and the operating company for the relevant years, the figures up to a recent date, the current account agreement and an overview of intercompany loans. Set a reasonable deadline for a response and invite the other party to point out any ambiguities or objections. Business confidentiality or the privacy of third parties may be a reason to agree on how access is given, not a reason for the relevant question to disappear.
If an independent valuation expert is involved, a joint list of required documents and a secure route for inspection can be useful. Agree how the expert will record missing information in the report. A valuation that lacks important figures must make its limitations clear.
A practical request states for each document: the company, the period, the type of document, the specific question and the preferred method of provision. For example: ‘The 2024 annual accounts and the interim figures up to and including June 2026 of Holding BV are needed so that the valuation expert can assess how the results have developed.’ If you do not know whether a document exists, say so honestly by phrasing it as a question and ask for an explanation of the records that are available. A request for all emails, all client files and all invoices over ten years, without any link to the claim, will be harder to justify.
Protect personal data and trade secrets. The parties can agree that an expert bound by confidentiality sees the complete documents and states only the relevant totals and assumptions in the report. Whether that is sufficient, legally and in practice, depends on the purpose of the inspection and on whether both parties can verify the outcome. Record what the expert received, what the expert refused or could not verify, and whether follow-up questions are possible.
What if the documents are not provided?
Document the request, the response and which questions remain unanswered. A lawyer can assess which duty to provide information, procedural option or valuation assignment fits your case. The appropriate route depends, among other things, on the type of proceedings and on how the documents are described. A suspicion that assets are being hidden is not proof of a particular business value; a well-substantiated list of missing information, however, is a useful document in proceedings.
Sometimes there is urgency because business assets are at risk of disappearing or decisions cannot wait. Discuss this with your lawyer immediately and collect objective indications: dates, amounts, transactions and the companies involved. Distinguish between normal business payments and a concrete risk to your claim.
Which legal route to access is appropriate?
Since 1 January 2025, Article 194 of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure (Wetboek van Burgerlijke Rechtsvordering, Rv) contains a rule on inspection, copies or extracts of certain information concerning a legal relationship, if the requesting party has a sufficient interest. This is not a general right to the complete records of a bv. The information must be sufficiently specified; the legal relationship, the interest and any objections or confidentiality must be assessed. In addition, in pending proceedings other rules on the duty to provide truthful information and on court directions may play a role.
In a divorce case, a request for information addressed to the partner may also be something different from a request made directly to a bv, which is a separate legal entity. The procedural position of the bv, the shareholding and the chosen procedure all matter. A lawyer can decide whether a targeted letter, an arrangement with an expert or a procedural application makes sense first. It is better to describe the missing facts and documents precisely than to invoke a heavy remedy without a clear purpose.
Fictitious course of events. An ex-partner first asks for four specific sets of annual accounts and a breakdown of the current account. The business owner provides only the annual accounts of the operating company and points to client confidentiality. The lawyer then identifies which companies and years are missing and proposes a confidential inspection route via the expert. Only if no workable response follows does she consider a court step. This makes both the need for evidence and the protection of third parties concrete.
Which figures are relevant for maintenance and which for division?
For maintenance, the question is what income or financial capacity is available for the relevant period. Salary, dividend, current results and the room within the business may then be relevant, but no single figure provides the answer on its own. For division or settlement, the question is which value or claim qualifies on a particular legal basis. Annual accounts may come up in both discussions, while the expert reads them for different purposes. So state for each request whether a document serves to establish income, value or a specific debt.
A director-major shareholder (dga) may draw a low salary while the bv makes a profit. That is a reason for investigation, not proof that the profit is simply available privately. Conversely, high equity in the bv does not prove that dividend can be distributed or that a buy-out can be paid immediately. Look at the board, the conditions for distributions, ongoing obligations and financing. The family lawyer determines the legal questions; a financial expert can interpret the figures.
Finally, make an overview of the information that has been shared and the assumptions that are still uncertain. If the parties want to make a provisional arrangement despite an incomplete file, record which items remain open, how they will be checked later, who bears the costs of an expert and which mechanism makes the outcome enforceable. A definitive final discharge (finale kwijting) while essential amounts are unknown deserves careful assessment.
Avoid three common mistakes
1. Demanding a final amount before the asset is clear. A bv, a holding company and privately held shares are not synonyms. Establish the structure first.
2. Lumping income and business value together. A low salary for a director-major shareholder may raise questions for maintenance, but in itself says nothing about what the shares are worth. Read more about business valuation.
3. Signing a divorce settlement (convenant) with an unknown item. If figures are to follow later, set out explicitly which documents will be provided, who appoints an expert, which principles apply and how disagreements will be resolved. An open wording such as ‘the parties will settle later’ can invite new proceedings.
Fictitious example. A spouse knows that the partner has a holding company and two operating companies, but sees only the annual accounts of one bv. A general request for all business information produces no usable response. After mapping the corporate structure, the lawyer makes a targeted request for shareholder documents, consolidated information, intercompany loans and recent figures. The expert can then specify what is still missing and which assumption remains uncertain as a result. This is a working method, not a prediction of a legal outcome.
Frequently asked questions
Am I automatically entitled to the complete records of the bv? Not every question justifies access to everything. The legal claim, relevance and the way the request is made must be assessed.
Can a Chamber of Commerce extract prove the value? No. It can help with the structure, but it does not provide a full valuation or an overview of mutual rights.
May I log in to my ex’s business account? Only use access for which you are authorised. Discuss with your lawyer how missing documents can be obtained lawfully.
What if the profit is suddenly low? Ask about the underlying figures, one-off items, related-party transactions and recent developments. A deviating profit is a point for investigation, not yet proof of manipulation.
Can the court appoint an expert? Depending on the dispute and the procedural route, an expert investigation may play a role. Make sure the questions to be answered and the available documents are specific.
Öznur Batur can define the family law claim and Onur Arslan can assess the property law structure and documents. Send a short description of your situation, the companies involved and the missing documents. Report any pending procedural deadline immediately.
Read more
- Division of assets in a divorce: business, property and debts
- Divorce with a bv or holding company
- Dividing a property portfolio in a divorce
Sources consulted: Rechtspraak: checklist for community of property (in Dutch), Rechtspraak: checklist for prenuptial agreements (in Dutch), Rechtspraak: application of Article 194 Rv (in Dutch), KVK: divorce when you have your own business (in Dutch).
