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You are here: Home Moving to Getting Started Marriage and divorce

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02/02/2005Marriage and divorce

There is more than one way you can get hitched in Belgium. Here is a guide to marriage, other forms of legally recognised partnerships - and divorce.

Marriage

Anyone in Belgium can be married from the age of 18. Below that age young people must have the consent of their parents and permission from the court. Civil marriage is obligatory, even if the couple decide to marry in church. This must take place in one of the communes before any church ceremony. It is important to remember that the civil ceremony is the legally binding one. Contact your commune for full details.

To contract a marriage in Belgium, one of the parties must reside in the country. There is no specific period of residence, but several weeks are generally necessary for completion of the required formalities. If neither of the parties has a fixed residence in Belgium, one of them must establish a residence for this purpose. You then need to apply for a Certificate of Residence for Marriage Purposes (Certificat de Domicile/Bewijs van Woonst voor Huwelijksdoeleinden) from the commune.

You will need a raft of papers to fulfil the legal requirements of getting married, including birth certificates, previous wedding certificates, legal divorce papers, sometimes even a statement from your embassy confirming your civil status. All these papers need to be translated into one of the official Belgian languages by an accredited legal translator.

Marriage Contracts
 
It is usual practice for a separate legal marriage contract to be made in Belgium. The contract must be drawn up by a notary before the wedding and the attestation of contract presented at the ceremony.  In the absence of any contract, the couple enters into a mariage à regime légal/huwelijk onder wettelijk stelsel. This means that all property held before the marriage is owned individually and any inheritance is held individually, but other monies coming to the couple during the marriage are held in common.

For information on other types of partnerships and gay marriage, please visit www.expatica.com

Divorce

Belgian divorce is obtainable for one of three reasons:
1.    By mutual consent
2.    Through serious cause (such as adultery or cruelty)
3.    Legal separation of five years
Where couples divorce by mutual consent, the process can be finalised within six months. Before the divorce process may begin, the couple must notarise an agreement that states how property will be divided and how child custody arrangements will be handled.

Foreigners living in Belgium, although married abroad, may obtain a divorce under Belgian law. It is also worth checking with your home country that it recognises Belgian divorce law.

(Expatica 2008)
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1 reaction to this article

wondering posted: 13-10-2008 | 11:19 PM

Pursuant to your last couple paragraphs, would a divorced spouse living in Belgium with a spouse visa loose the ability to live and work in Belgium if a divorce is finalized? The alien spouse is American, and the two do have a child.

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