If a marriage or registered partnership is dissolved and one of the partners is unable to support themselves, the court may order spousal support to be paid to one of the former spouses. Of course, this is only possible if the person liable for maintenance is also able to pay a contribution. The amount of spousal support is determined on the basis of the standard of living that the parties enjoyed during the marriage/registered partnership. In addition, the court must determine the period for which spousal support must be paid, taking into account the statutory provisions. This provides certainty for both the person liable for maintenance and the person entitled to it. Can the person entitled to maintenance extend this fixed period?

Terms for payment of spousal maintenance

The duration of maintenance is determined on the basis of statutory guidelines. On 1 January 2020, the terms for which spousal maintenance must be paid were changed. Before this date, the maximum period was 12 years. If you divorce after 1 January 2020, the period for which spousal support must be paid is a maximum of 5 years. This may also be shorter if the marriage or registered partnership lasted less than 10 years. In that case, the period is half the duration of the marriage or registered partnership. There are three exceptions in which the period may be extended, namely: .

1. if children were born during the marriage or registered partnership. Spousal support then ends when the youngest child reaches the age of 12;
2. the marriage or registered partnership lasted longer than 15 years (at the time of filing for divorce) and the person entitled to maintenance will receive a state pension within 10 years. In that case, spousal support ends when the state pension starts;
3. the marriage or registered partnership lasted longer than 15 years (at the time the divorce petition was filed) and the person entitled to maintenance was born on or before 1 January 1970 and will receive state pension in more than 10 years. In that case, the maintenance will last for 10 years.

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If several of these situations apply, the longest term applies. The term starts on the date on which the divorce decree is entered in the civil registry. After the statutory term has expired, the payment obligation ends automatically.

Spousal support may be terminated before the end of the fixed term. This may be the case if the person entitled to support has sufficient income to support themselves, if the person entitled to support remarries or enters into a registered partnership or cohabits, or if the person entitled to support dies.

Extension of the period for payment of spousal support

If, at the end of the period for which spousal support must be paid, it appears that the person entitled to support would be disproportionately affected if the spousal support were to stop, he or she may apply to the court to extend the period.

The court will not often grant such a request. Extending spousal support beyond five years is an exception to the main rule. There must be special circumstances – taking into account all the circumstances of the case – that would cause the person entitled to support to be disproportionately affected. It must be demonstrated that if spousal support ends, this would lead to an unreasonable or unfair situation for the person entitled to support.

This request must be submitted to the court before three months have elapsed since the end of the term. This has been confirmed in a ruling by the Court of Appeal in 's-Hertogenbosch (ECLI:NL:GHSHE:2023:3257). In this ruling, the person entitled to maintenance in the divorce proceedings requested that the duration of the spousal maintenance be set at 10 years instead of 5 years, in order to avoid new proceedings in the future. The court ruled that there was no legal basis for extending the term in advance. The person entitled to maintenance can only submit such a request at the end of the period, because only then can all relevant and current circumstances be taken into account. The same was ruled in a case before the District Court of Rotterdam (ECLI:NL:RBROT:2021:13757).

What could be reasons for submitting a request for extension?

As the time limits were changed on 1 January 2020, there is not yet much case law on this subject.

Below are a number of situations in which a request for an extension could be successful. This will of course depend on all the facts and circumstances of the case and what the person entitled to maintenance can substantiate. The court will have to weigh up the interests involved..

• the person entitled to maintenance became incapacitated for work or ill before or during the marriage, as a result of which he or she was unable to provide for his or her own maintenance during the period applicable to him or her;
• the person entitled to maintenance has custody of a disabled or seriously ill child;
• the person entitled to maintenance has demonstrably asked the person liable for maintenance on several occasions to also take on childcare responsibilities and the latter has refused to do so.

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There are a number of judgments in which the court ruled that the person entitled to maintenance had not sufficiently demonstrated that there was a distressing situation that justified extending the maintenance period. In a ruling by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal (ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2024:460), the court rejected the request of the person entitled to maintenance, as they had started studying full-time after the divorce and were therefore only able to work part-time. This was the choice of the person entitled to maintenance and was not the result of a choice made by the parties during the marriage. The consequences of this choice must be borne by the person entitled to maintenance, even if this means that they temporarily have an income just above the social assistance level.

Conclusion

Judges are reluctant to grant a request for an extension of the period during which spousal maintenance must be paid. How a judge rules depends on all the circumstances of the case and what the person entitled to maintenance can demonstrate to support their request. It is therefore important to consult a specialist solicitor to assess whether the facts and circumstances give grounds for submitting a request to the court.

f you wish to submit such a request or if your ex-partner submits this request to the court, it is wise to seek legal advice on the steps you should take. At SPEE lawyers & mediation, we have many years of experience in family law. Please feel free to contact us for expert advice! Contact page SPEE advocaten & mediation..