Applying for a marriage to be annulled
A nietigverklaring (annulment) means that a marriage never officially existed. A marriage can only be annulled by making an application to a judge.
Last updated on 14 October 2021
Lees deze informatie in het Nederlands
Reasons for annulling a marriage
A judge can annul a marriage for one of the following reasons:
- one of the parties was already married;
- the civil registrar was not authorised to celebrate the marriage;
- not enough witnesses were present at the marriage ceremony;
- the marriage was forced;
- one of the spouses had a mental disorder;
- one of the spouses was under the age of 18 at the time of the marriage;
- there is too close a relationship of blood or affinity (marriage between children, grandchildren or siblings is not allowed);
- the marriage was a sham marriage (for example, to obtain authorisation to live in the Netherlands where the non-Dutch partner does not have a permanent residence permit).
Applying for a marriage to be annulled
You must apply to the rechtbank (district court) to have your marriage annulled. You will need a lawyer to do this.
Laws and regulations (in Dutch)
Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 1, afdeling 5