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How is child support (kinderalimentatie) calculated?

FamilyLegislation verified on Ook in het Nederlands

Short answer: Dutch child support (kinderalimentatie) is calculated in two steps. First, the child's need (behoefte) is determined — what the child would cost to maintain in the standard of living the family had before the parents split. Second, each parent's ability to pay (draagkracht) is calculated — what each parent can spare after a normative subsistence allowance. The non-resident parent then pays his or her proportional share of the need up to the limit of that ability. The court (or a mediator) applies the Trema-normen issued annually by the Expertgroep Alimentatienormen of the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Rechtspraak (NVVR), which translate the open statutory standard into numbers and tables.

Legal basis

The starting point is the family law maintenance duty in Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 1:

ProvisionContent
Art. 392 lid 1 sub a jo. lid 2 BW Boek 1Parents (and step-parents) are obliged to provide maintenance to their minor (and, per art. 395a, to their children up to 21); for those children the duty exists regardless of "neediness" in the technical sense.
Art. 395a lid 1 BW Boek 1The duty extends to costs of living and study of children who have reached majority but are not yet 21.
Art. 400 lid 1 BW Boek 1Children under 21 have priority over a current or former spouse or registered partner if the obligor's capacity is insufficient to pay everyone in full.
Art. 400 lid 2 BW Boek 1Any agreement by which maintenance is renounced is void — child support cannot be "bought off" or waived in advance.
Art. 404 lid 1 BW Boek 1Parents must contribute according to their ability (naar draagkracht) to the costs of care and upbringing of their minor children.
Art. 208 / Art. 251 / Art. 253w BW Boek 1A contribution can be ordered at the same time as the determination of parentage, divorce, or end of joint parental authority; the co-holder of joint authority is also liable.
Art. 402 BW Boek 1The court fixes the amount, the date from which it is due, and whether it is paid weekly, monthly or quarterly.
Art. 402a BW Boek 1Amounts fixed by court or agreement are automatically indexed by law every year on 1 January by a percentage set by the Minister of Justice.
Art. 408 lid 1 BW Boek 1The amount is paid to the caregiver parent (or to the adult child, or to a guardian).

The statutes use open norms ("ability", "needs", "costs of care and upbringing"). Filling in those numbers is delegated in practice to the Trema-normen, the annual guidelines of the Expertgroep Alimentatienormen that the NVVR endorses and that courts, mediators and the LBIO apply.

Step 1: the child's need (behoefte)

The need reflects what the child would cost to maintain in the standard of living that existed before the parents separated.

  • For parents who lived together: the benchmark is the net besteedbaar gezinsinkomen (net disposable family income) during the relationship, looked up in the NIBUD kosten van kinderen table (per 2025 capped at a net family income of €7,500). The table gives a per-child cost by age. From2023, the calculation no longer uses a "points" system per age band; an average kinderbijslag is offset against the need.
  • For parents who never lived together: there is no historical household income. The need is then based on the child's actual needs (housing, food, clothing, school, care, sport/hobby), capped at the level of the parent with the highest income.

The total need is what the child is entitled to in total — to be funded by both parents together.

Step 2: each parent's ability to pay (draagkracht)

For each parent the calculation adds up all income (wages, benefits, profit from a business, imputed rental value of owner-occupied housing, returns on assets) and deducts:

  • a fixed * forfaitaire lastenverlaging* / normative tax and social-security load,
  • the basisbehoeftenorm — the subsistence amount the parent needs for himself or herself, which depends on household composition (single, with new partner, with new children) and on the kostendelersnorm (people sharing a household),
  • possibly a contribution to a new partner's household if that partner has no income of his or her own,
  • any other maintenance obligations (e.g. partner alimentatie).

What is left is the draagkrachtruimte: the maximum that the parent can spare for child support before his own living standard falls below the subsistence level.

Step 3: combine need and ability

The outcome of the two steps is combined as follows:

  1. Both parents can pay: each pays in proportion to their draagkracht. The typical rule applied by Dutch courts is that each parent contributes in proportion to his share in the combined disposable income. So if the combined net disposable income is €3,000 (parent A €2,000, parent B €1,000) and the child's total need is €500/month, parent A pays 2/3 × €500 ≈ €333 and parent B pays 1/3 × €500 ≈ €167.
  2. One parent cannot pay (draagkracht is zero): the other parent carries the full need up to his own draagkracht ceiling. Children under 21 have priority (art. 400 lid 1), so if the obligor has only limited capacity, partner alimentatie to the ex-spouse is reduced or set to zero first before child support is touched.
  3. Neither parent can pay above the bijstandsniveau: child support is set to nihil. If the obligor's net income is below approximately €1,470/month, the Trema-normen apply a minimum of €25 per child per month as long as there is any draagkracht at all.
  4. Co-parenting / equal residence: when a child spends roughly equal time with both parents (the co-ouderschap model) and both contribute materially to day-to-day costs, courts typically set the verblijfsoverstijgende kosten (costs that do not depend on where the child sleeps — school, clothing, sports, etc.) rather than a full kinderalimentatie. The caregiver's share is offset against the other parent's contribution.

How the payment flows

The non-resident (or non-primary-caregiving) parent pays the amount to the caregiver parent, who spends it on the child (art. 408 lid 1). Where payments fail, the Landelijk Bureau Inning Onderhoudsbijdragen (LBIO) can take over collection on request (art. 408 lid 2-4).

Duration and automatic adjustment

  • The duty ends when the child turns 21 (art. 395a lid 1). For minor children it continues until majority; for adult children it ends at 21 unless they are still in genuine need (study, illness).
  • Fixed amounts are indexed automatically each year on 1 January (art. 402a lid 1-2). The Minister of Justice sets the percentage, based on the wage index. For 2026 the indexation percentage is 4,6 %, meaning a2025 amount of €200 becomes €200 × 1,046 = €209,20 per month from 1 January 2026 (LBIO, Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid).
  • Parties can exclude the indexation by mutual agreement (art. 402a lid 5), and the court can revise the amount on a wijziging van omstandigheden if income or need has materially changed.

Important exceptions

  • Renouncing child support is void (art. 400 lid 2). An afkoop of kinderalimentatie is contrary to public order; a lump-sum settlement is not legally possible.
  • Adult children (18–21): the same rules apply, but the need is often met by a student basisbeurs, a student loan and own income; if the child is genuinely studying and in need, the parents still owe a contribution.
  • Paternity established later: when a court establishes parentage, it can at the same time order a contribution under art. 208 BW Boek 1, retroactively up to five years before the claim.
  • Foreign income, self-employed income, partner alimentatie: the Trema-normen provide specific rules on imputed income (e.g. a healthy working parent can be required to earn at least the minimum wage), income from a business, and the interaction with partneralimentatie — which always yields to kinderalimentatie in case of insufficient draagkracht (art. 400).
  • Special circumstances: a court can depart from the Trema-normen when justified by the situation of the child (disability, special education costs) or the parent (debts, illness), but this requires substantiation.

This article is general legal information, not legal advice. The actual amount in any given case depends on the full financial picture, the care arrangement, and the specific circumstances; for a binding calculation, consult a family-law specialist or use the official LBIO/Trema-tools.

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