What a divorce costs in Belgium, and what drives the figure

There is no single price for a divorce, and anyone who quotes one without asking questions is guessing. What there is, is a small number of choices that decide almost the whole figure.

The two routes

Belgian law has two. Divorce by mutual consent is used when both spouses agree on everything in advance — the children, the home, the money — and put it in a written agreement that a court then confirms. Divorce for irretrievable breakdown is used when they do not, and can be requested by one spouse alone after a period of separation or jointly after a shorter one.

The first route is a drafting exercise. The second is a procedure, and possibly several: the divorce itself, and separately the arrangements for the children and the maintenance, which are often the part that actually takes the time.

What you actually pay for

Three things. Court costs, which include a filing fee per case and the registration formalities. A notary, if there is property to divide or a marriage contract to unwind — that cost tracks the value of what is being divided, not the difficulty of the divorce. And the lawyer's fee, which is the variable one.

Lawyers in Belgium bill by the hour, by fixed fee for a defined piece of work, or by a combination. For a mutual-consent divorce with a straightforward agreement, a fixed fee is common and is worth asking for. For a contested one, the honest answer to "what will it cost" is a rate and an estimate of hours, revised as the file moves.

What makes it expensive

Disagreement, and only disagreement. Every contested point adds correspondence, and often a hearing. In practice the expensive files are the ones where the children's arrangements or the valuation of a house or a business are fought over, not the ones where the marriage was long or the emotions were strong.

Mediation is worth considering before the positions harden. A mediator is not a judge and cannot impose anything, but an agreement reached there can be confirmed by the court and usually costs a fraction of the same outcome reached by litigation.

Before you decide

Ask two or three practices what they charge, whether they offer a fixed fee for the route you are on, and what is not included. Check any legal-expenses insurance you hold, and check whether you fall under the income thresholds for legal aid.

This page is general information about how these matters usually work in Belgium. It is not legal advice about your own case, and only a lawyer who has read your documents can give you that.