You can choose to have the relationship with your partner recorded with the registrar. You can do this through a marriage, but also through a registered partnership. People choose a registered partnership for various reasons. They want to be officially related and therefore want to record their relationship. They also choose it because they have certain rights and obligations. Furthermore, it is a good solution from a business perspective.
Marriage and registered partnership
In fact, registered partnership and marriage are equivalent in many respects. By registering your relationship through a registered partnership, you and your partner are officially related. You can also choose to use each other’s last name. Furthermore, you have an obligation to support each other. The law sets out the rights, obligations and conditions that apply to a registered partnership. Furthermore, spouses and registered partners are not obliged to testify against each other or each other’s immediate family. As an ex-spouse or widow/widower, you are also entitled to alimony.
The conditions
In the Netherlands you can enter into a registered partnership if you meet a number of conditions. For example, you must be at least 18 years old and you may not be married to someone else or already have a registered partnership. In addition, you must get married at least two weeks before you enter into the registered partnership. You do this by reporting it to the registrar. You must also appear in person before the registrar. You then make a statement and sign the deed. With this signing you have officially recorded your relationship. Furthermore, someone who is under guardianship requires permission from the curator or the subdistrict court judge. Immediate family members are also not allowed to enter into a registered partnership with each other. It is also a requirement that at least 1 partner has a Dutch passport or lives in the Netherlands.
The differences between marriage and registered partnership
Even though a registered partnership is similar to marriage in many respects, there are still a number of differences. This way you can terminate the registered partnership without any legal rights. You must agree with each other and you must not have any minor children. In the event of a divorce you always have to go to court. In a registered partnership it is also not obligatory to give each other the yes word, as is the case with a marriage. You can compose the text yourself. Furthermore, you can also undergo a church blessing with a registered partnership. You can decide for yourself whether this takes place before or after the official ceremony in the town hall.
Not everywhere in the world
Another very big difference is that a registered partnership is not accepted everywhere in the world. If you have entered into a registered partnership abroad, it will be recognized in the Netherlands. This is a condition that the country has the same rules for a registered partnership as the Netherlands.