Pagtatapos ng kasunduan sa pagsasama: bahay, mga utang at mga anak

A cohabitation agreement (samenlevingscontract) ends when one partner gives notice in the way the contract prescribes: no court, no registration with the municipality. The hard part comes afterwards, because unmarried partners have no community of property, no statutory partner maintenance and no statutory pension equalisation; only what you agreed and general property law decide how the home, possessions and debts are divided.

The main exception concerns children. Parents with joint parental authority must draw up a parenting plan (ouderschapsplan) when they stop living together (Article 1:247a of the Dutch Civil Code, BW), and both parents owe child maintenance regardless of the relationship form.

What is a cohabitation agreement, and what is it not?

A cohabitation agreement is a private contract, usually drawn up by a civil-law notary (notaris), in which unmarried partners record what is joint, how they share costs and what happens on separation or death. It does not create a community of property and does not make either partner an heir of the other.

For spouses and registered partners, Book 1 BW supplies a full framework by default: a matrimonial property regime, partner maintenance, pension equalisation under the Pension Rights Equalisation (Divorce) Act (Wet verevening pensioenrechten bij scheiding) and inheritance rights. Between cohabitants none of this applies. What you left out of the contract falls back on general property law: each partner keeps what is theirs, and only jointly owned assets are divided.

How do you end the agreement formally?

You give notice under the termination clause in the agreement. Almost every notarial agreement allows each partner to end it unilaterally, sometimes with a short notice period.

Send the notice by registered post, state the date on which the cohabitation ends, refer to the clause and ask for written confirmation. Keep the proof of posting: the end date determines when the mutual obligations stop and from when the Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) and the Benefits Office (Dienst Toeslagen) treat you as separate households.

Unlike a divorce or the pagpapawalang-bisa ng isang rehistradong pakikipagsosyo, nobody checks whether the loose ends are tied. The notice does not divide the house, close the joint account, release you from the mortgage or settle anything about the children.

How do the three relationship forms compare?

Marriages and registered partnerships entered into on or after 1 January 2018 have a limited community of property by law; cohabitants have none at all, only co-ownership of specific assets they bought together.

How is the joint home divided?

The legal position decides, not who paid what in practice. For an owned home the deed at the Land Registry (Kadaster) is the starting point; for a rented home, the tenancy agreement.

Isang bahay na tinitirhan ng may-ari

If both names are on the deed, you own the house together. Under Article 3:178 BW each co-owner can demand division at any time: one partner takes over the other’s share and pays it out, or the house is sold and the net proceeds are divided.

The shares are those in the deed, and they are not automatically fifty-fifty in economic terms. If one partner paid more of the purchase price from private funds, the correction must come from a settlement clause in the cohabitation agreement. Without one, recovering an unequal contribution means proving a loan or agreement that was often never written down.

Towards the bank you are both jointly and severally liable for the whole mortgage, whatever you agree between you. The partner who stays must apply for release from joint and several liability (ontslag uit de hoofdelijke aansprakelijkheid); the lender grants it only if that partner can carry the mortgage alone. Until the release is granted and the notary has registered the transfer at the Kadaster, the departing partner stays fully liable. Ask the notary about the tax consequences before you sign.

Isang inuupahang bahay

If you both signed the tenancy agreement, you are both tenants and both liable for the rent until the tenancy is ended or transferred with the landlord’s cooperation. If only one of you signed, the other is not a tenant, unless the landlord or the court made that partner a co-tenant (medehuurder) under Article 7:267 BW.

A court can only grant co-tenancy after at least two years of a lasting joint household in the home (Article 7:267(3) BW). A co-tenant who no longer has their main residence in the home loses co-tenant status (Article 7:267(5) BW). Raise the question with the landlord early.

What happens to possessions, bank accounts and debts?

Each partner keeps what belongs to them; only what is jointly owned is divided under Article 3:178 BW. If your agreement has a list of what each partner brought in, that list is the starting point.

Without such a list, make a joint inventory and divide by agreement. Litigating over furniture whose value is lower than the legal costs rarely makes sense.

Redirect standing orders and direct debits, then close joint bank accounts or convert them into single-name accounts. A joint account with an overdraft is a joint debt towards the bank as long as it stays open.

Debts follow the person who incurred them, unless both partners signed. Then the creditor can claim the full amount from either of you; an internal arrangement only gives you a claim against your ex-partner. The joint liability for household expenses between spouses (Article 1:85 BW) does not apply to cohabitants.

What happens to pensions and the partner pension?

Cohabitants keep their own pension entitlements in full. The Wet verevening pensioenrechten bij scheiding applies only to marriage and registered partnership, so sharing requires an express clause in your agreement.

The partner pension (partnerpensioen) needs action. Many pension funds only recognise an unmarried partner who has been registered, usually on the basis of a notarial cohabitation agreement. Notify the fund when you separate and ask in writing whether your ex-partner keeps a claim to a special partner pension; an outdated registration can produce a claim after death that neither of you intended.

Ano ang dapat mong isaayos para sa mga bata?

First establish who has parental authority (gezag). For children acknowledged on or after 1 January 2023, the mother and the person who acknowledged the child exercise joint authority automatically (Article 1:251b BW), unless they declared otherwise at acknowledgement.

For children acknowledged earlier, joint authority only exists if it was registered in the authority register (gezagsregister) at the request of both parents (Article 1:252 BW). Check the register before assuming anything.

Parents with joint authority who stop living together must draw up a parenting plan (Article 1:247a BW). It covers the division of care, how you inform and consult each other, and how the costs of care and upbringing are shared (Article 815 of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure, Rv). Our guide to the plano ng pagiging magulang sa Netherlands nagpapaliwanag kung ano ang nilalaman ng isang praktikal na plano.

Both parents owe child maintenance for minor children, and for children aged 18 to 21 who are not yet self-supporting. The amount follows the guidelines used by the courts; see our pagkalkula ng sustento sa bata sa Netherlands. If you cannot agree, the family court sets the amount on a petition that must be filed by a lawyer.

Do you owe maintenance to your ex-partner?

No. There is no statutory maintenance obligation between former cohabitants, even after a long relationship or where one partner gave up work for the household.

A payment is only owed under a clause in the cohabitation agreement or an agreement made at separation. Where one partner worked part-time to care for children, negotiate a contribution or transition arrangement and put it in writing while you are both still talking.

Which wills and paperwork must you review?

Cohabitants do not inherit from each other by law, and a will in favour of your partner stays valid after you separate. Review it with a notary straight away, together with beneficiary designations on life insurance and the registration with your pension fund. Our overview of Batas sa mana ng Olandes nagpapaliwanag kung paano gumagana ang mga appointment na ito.

The partner who moves out registers the new address with the municipality (Basisregistratie Personen). Inform the Belastingdienst and Dienst Toeslagen that the fiscal partnership has ended, because allowances overpaid on a joint household are reclaimed later. Update health insurers, energy suppliers and the vehicle registration authority (RDW).

Magkano ang halaga nito at gaano katagal ito?

Ending the contract costs nothing more than a registered letter. Costs arise from what surrounds it: a notarial deed if a share in a house changes hands, a mediator or lawyer for the arrangements, and court fees (griffierecht) if proceedings are needed.

The timeline follows the house and the children. Without property or minor children, separation can be completed in weeks; where the lender must assess the remaining partner and the notary must transfer a share, it takes months.

What if you cannot reach agreement?

There is no single court file in which everything is resolved. Authority, the parenting plan, care arrangements and child maintenance go to the family judge at the district court (rechtbank), on a petition filed by a lawyer.

Disputes about the house, other joint property or debts are ordinary civil claims: before the subdistrict court (kantonrechter) up to €25,000 (Article 93 Rv), and before the district court above that. Urgent matters, such as a partner refusing to cooperate in a sale, can go to interim relief proceedings (kort geding).

Mediation is usually faster and cheaper. Have the outcome recorded in a notarial deed where a house share or payment obligation is involved: an enforceable notarial deed (executoriale titel) can be enforced without a court judgment.

What should you check as the partner who stays in the home?

• Is your name on the deed or the tenancy agreement, and in which ownership share?
• Can you carry the mortgage alone? Ask the lender for an assessment before you agree a buy-out price.
• Does the settlement clause in the agreement require you to compensate an unequal contribution?
• Has the notary scheduled the transfer, and has the lender confirmed the release of your ex-partner in writing?
• If you rent: has the landlord agreed in writing that you continue the tenancy alone?

What should you check as the partner who moves out?

• Have you sent the notice by registered post and kept proof of the end date?
• Has the lender released you from joint and several liability before you hand over your share?
• Are joint accounts closed and are you removed from joint loans and the tenancy agreement?
• Have you notified the pension fund and changed your will and beneficiary designations?
• If you have children: are authority, the parenting plan and child maintenance settled in writing?

What can we do for you when you end a cohabitation agreement?

Ang aming abogado ng pamilya assist cohabitants at every step:

• We review your cohabitation agreement and tell you what it says about the home, unequal contributions and termination.
• We draft the notice letter and a separation agreement covering the house, accounts, debts and pensions.
• We calculate a buy-out amount or settlement of unequal contributions based on the deed and the agreement.
• We draft the parenting plan and calculate child maintenance.
• We conduct proceedings before the family judge or the civil court if you cannot reach agreement.

Buod

• A cohabitation agreement ends by notice under the contract; no court or registration is involved.
• Cohabitants have no community of property, no statutory partner maintenance and no statutory pension equalisation.
• The house is divided according to the deed and the agreement; the bank must release the departing partner from the mortgage.
• Parents with joint authority must draw up a parenting plan (Article 1:247a BW), and both owe child maintenance.
• Review your will, beneficiary designations and pension registration as soon as you separate.

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