How is partner alimony calculated and how long does it last?
Partner alimony (partneralimentatie) under current Dutch law is the post-divorce duty of one former spouse to contribute to the other former spouse's living costs. The amount is fixed on a needs-versus-capacity basis and is generally limited to five years, with a small set of statutory exceptions and a hardship clause for exceptional cases.
How the amount is calculated
The starting point is artikel 1:81 BW, which obliges spouses to provide for each other, and artikel 1:156 lid 1 BW, which entitles a former spouse to a maintenance allowance (uitkering tot levensonderhoud) after divorce only if two conditions are both met:
- The recipient has insufficient income for their own maintenance (behoeftigheid), and
- They cannot reasonably obtain such income themselves (no realistic earning capacity).
When those conditions are met, the court sets the amount in line with artikel 1:397 lid 1 BW: the judge weighs the recipient's needs against the payer's capacity (draagkracht). If several people owe maintenance to the same person, artikel 1:397 lid 2 BW distributes the burden proportionally. The payment frequency (weekly, monthly, quarterly) is set under artikel 1:402 BW.
In practice Dutch family courts do not calculate this themselves: they apply the Alimentatienormen (the so-called Tremanormen) issued by the Expertgroep Alimentatienormen. These contain:
- a behoefte tabel (needs table) that estimates the recipient's required living costs, normally derived from the household income during the marriage, and
- a draagkracht tabel (capacity table) with the standard formula for higher incomes:
draagkracht = 70% of [NBI − (0,3 × NBI + €1.465)], where NBI is the payer's net disposable income.
These are recommendations, not statute, so a court may deviate where the parties' circumstances justify it.
The amount is also indexed automatically each year under artikel 1:402a BW, by a percentage set by the Minister of Justice and Security. For 2026 that indexation percentage is 4,6% (2025: 6,5%). Indexation can be excluded by agreement, but only for partner alimony, never for child maintenance.
How long it lasts
The rules on duration are in artikel 1:157 BW as reformed by the Wet herziening partneralimentatie, in force since 1 January 2020. The starting date is the registration of the divorce in the civil registers (artikel 1:157 lid 6 BW). Former spouses may also set their own (usually shorter) term in a convenant under artikel 1:158 BW; if no term is agreed, the statutory rules below apply.
Main rule (artikel 1:157 lid 1 BW)
If the court has not set a different term, the duty ends automatically after a period equal to half the duration of the marriage, with a maximum of five years.
Statutory exceptions
| Situation | Rule | End of alimony |
|---|---|---|
| Marriage longer than 15 years and recipient is at most 10 years away from the AOW age (Algemene Ouderdomswet, art. 7a) | Art. 1:157 lid 2 BW | When the recipient reaches AOW age |
| Marriage longer than 15 years and recipient born on or before 1 January 1970 and recipient is more than 10 years away from AOW age | Art. 1:157 lid 3 BW | After 10 years |
| Children from the marriage | Art. 1:157 lid 4 BW | Not before the youngest child turns 12 |
| Several exceptions apply at the same time | Art. 1:157 lid 5 BW | The longest term prevails |
Hardship clause (artikel 1:157 lid 7 BW)
When unaltered application of the end date would be unacceptable under standards of reasonableness and fairness, the court can, on request, still set or extend a term. The bar is high. Parliamentary history and case law point to situations such as health problems that arose during the marriage, long-term care of a disabled child, demonstrable obstacles to returning to the labour market, or the payer's refusal to share care duties during the marriage. The request must be filed within three months after the end date; after that it is no longer admissible.
Earlier ending
Independent of any term, the duty also ends if the recipient remarries, enters a registered partnership, or starts cohabiting as if married or registered (artikel 1:160 BW).
Changes after the order
Under artikel 1:401 BW a maintenance order or agreement can be changed, withdrawn or extended by the court when circumstances change materially. The standard term set under the hardship clause (lid 7) can in principle not be extended again, unless the court itself allowed that possibility (artikel 1:401 lid 2 BW).
Registered partnerships and unmarried cohabitants
The same rules apply, by reference, to the dissolution of a registered partnership under artikel 80d lid 2 BW. There is no statutory partner-alimony duty between unmarried cohabitants unless they have agreed otherwise in writing.
Disclaimer. This article describes the general framework under current Dutch law and is not legal advice. The actual amount and duration in a specific case depend on the parties' precise financial and personal circumstances, and on the case law of the relevant court. For your own situation, consult a qualified family-law lawyer or the Juridisch Loket.
Sources
- Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 1, artikelen 1:81, 1:156, 1:157, 1:158, 1:160, 1:397, 1:401, 1:402, 1:402a, 80d — wetten.overheid.nl
- Wet herziening partneralimentatie (Stb. 2019/283, in force 1 January 2020)
- Expertgroep Alimentatienormen, Rapport Alimentatienormen (Tremanormen), versie januari 2026 — rechtspraak.nl
- Indexeringspercentage alimentatie 2026: 4,6% — Rijksoverheid,18 december 2025