Municipality of Leiden: registering a divorce in the civil registry

Where you register your divorce depends on your situation.

If you got divorced in the Netherlands

Did you get married and divorced in the Netherlands? Then your lawyer will send the divorce decree to the civil registrar in the municipality where you got married. The registrar will then register your divorce.

Do you live in a municipality other than the one in which you got married? Then the registrar will inform your municipality of residence.

If you got divorced outside of the Netherlands

Did you get divorced outside of the Netherlands and you live in the Netherlands? Then you must have your divorce registered in the Basisregistratie Personen – BRP (Personal Records Database). You do this at the municipality in which you are registered.

Registering your divorce with the municipality is free of charge. Do you need proof of the divorce? Requesting a copy or extract of the divorce certificate is subject to a fee.

Once your municipality has received the documents, it will register the divorce as soon as possible. The divorce becomes official as soon as your municipality registers it in the civil registry.