More than one in three Dutch marriages ends in divorce. We therefore regularly encounter this with couples that we advise in the field of insurance and mortgages.
The house
In addition to emotions, a divorce often leads to questions in the financial field. For example, the question of which of the couple can continue to live in the house? The next question always is whether that partner with one income can continue to pay the housing costs. And where will the other partner live? Is there other accommodation available? Is it affordable with the income of the partner who is going to live there. These questions are usually not easy to find and it is often quite a puzzle to come to solutions.
Alimony
Another topic that plays a role is alimony. Unlike in the past, it is less and less common for one partner to still have to pay maintenance costs to the other partner. Where this is the case, the amount is lower than in the past and the period for which this maintenance must be paid is shorter. If there is alimony, we often advise to take out a simple and cheap life insurance policy. The costs are negligible, only a few euros per month. You do build in the certainty that, if the partner who pays the alimony dies, the other partner and any children will be reimbursed for the remaining maintenance from the insurance. Because under Dutch law, when the ex-partner dies, the alimony stops.
What we often notice in practice is that it is thought that insuring only the alimony provides sufficient financial security in the event of an early death of the ex-partner. That is not the case when there are minor children. Let’s give an example.
Additional costs
The parents are getting a divorce. It is agreed that the children will live with one of the parents. In the weekends and holidays, the children come to the other parent. But what if the parent with whom the children live during the week dies? The answer in almost all cases will be that the children then move in with the other parent. The question is what are the financial consequences for that parent? If they have a busy job or their own business, it is questionable whether that can easily be combined with caring for the children. It will probably be necessary to work less or childcare will have to be arranged. The financial consequences of this can be considerable and can be absorbed with a simple life insurance policy.
We are happy to help you
For example, a divorce requires attention on many more points. Consider, for example, the pension situation. Do you want to talk about this further. That’s possible. We can inform you well.