Contentious divorce

In the event of a divorce, parents must agree on who will take care of the children and when. If they cannot work it out together, they can ask for help. For example from a mediator or a lawyer. The lawyer can also act as a mediator.

If the parents cannot reach an agreement with help, they can ask the judge to decide what is best. The judge can send the parents to a mediator again to reach an agreement with each other. Or he can ask the Guardianship Council CN for advice on the best arrangement for the children.

The investigation follows certain steps. You can read about this under How is a Council investigation conducted? 

The Council investigator gives his/her advice in a report at the end of an investigation. This advice is about how the parents should take care of the children after the divorce. Thus, what is the best arrangement for the children. The advice goes to the judge.

There will be a meeting in court: a court hearing. The parents will receive an invitation for this. The judge is obliged to ask children aged 12 and older for their opinion. He may ask children under the age of 12 for their opinion but it is not a requirement. This always happens without the parents being present. A child may bring someone along to this meeting (someone other than the parents).

The judge listens to the parents’ and the child’s side. He reads the investigation and the advice of the Council investigator.

The judge takes a decision at the end of the court hearing, for example about the division of care and where the child lives. As a rule, both parents keep parental authority of the child. Sometimes the judge decides otherwise. You can read what this could be in Rules of the law in the event of a divorce. 

If the Council investigation shows that there are parental problems, the Council investigator can conduct further investigation and determine whether a child’s protection measure is necessary.

The parents can both appeal against the court’s decision.