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Divorce questions
My wife and I havea agreed to divorce "amicably". We are both EU citizans and got married outside Belgium. I don't want to involve a lawyer, we will go straight to the notaire to write the "convention de divorce".
Questions:
1. can I start the procedure while we are still living under the same roof? She has agreed to move out.
2. How much is the notaire fees. I've been told a few hundred euros. True?
3. Since we got married abroad, in which commune will the divorce be registered?
TIA
1. You can start the process while you're together, however you need to be living separately for the final "acte".
2. Costs will largely depend on whether you have real assets or not. Can be extremely cheap, i.e. you just pay the notaire literally for the couple of hours it takes them to draw up the document, or extremely expensive, you need to re-register multiple properties, change the hypoteque of your mortgages, transfer assets between the two parties etc.
3. Not sure what you mean here, but the fact of your divorce is communicated to the commune(s) in which you are both registered.
You can always ask a notaris what it is going to cost in advance without committing yourself. A notaris has little option in what they are allowed to charge so shopping around makes little sense.
You have to get divorced in the country where you last lived together as man and wife. As that would seem to be Belgium your status will automatically be amended on the national register. This is what the commune refers to whenever they deal with you.
You don't have to use a notaire.
You can write your own divorce, cheapest option.
You can also go through a mediator, next cheapest option.
Shortof may be right but this is not a minor matter to play around with. Use a notary to get solid and correct advice that you will not regret in the future. It won’t cost that much. More important might be which court you use and which language. One day you will have to go to the judges and sign the papers. Antwerp did the official papers in Dutch but accommodated us in English, which although speaking fairly good French, we were more comfortable with.
If you own property together, and will be transferring property from one party to the other, you need a notaire.
