Couples who want to separate can easily do so online. More and more solicitors and lawyers are offering this option. Online divorce is ‘up to half the price cheaper, faster and less stressful’. ‘Some people even come in with a ChatGPT agreement,’ explains solicitor Peter-Jan De Meulenaere.
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Online divorce is becoming more popular: ‘495 euros instead of 1,500 euros’
Colin Clapson
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Every year, around 20,000 couples divorce in Belgium. Most of them visit a solicitor, notary or mediator. But divorce can also be settled online. If you search for it on the internet, you will mainly find Dutch websites – where the procedure is already more established – but more and more Flemish lawyers are also jumping on the online bandwagon and are making it possible for people to divorce online.
One such lawyer is Peter-Jan De Meulenaere. Together with his Bruges-based law firm LawBase, he developed his own software tool for divorces. (Ex-)partners can use it free of charge.
‘The programme automatically draws up a divorce agreement,’ explains the solicitor. Such a mutual consent agreement is a legal document in which both partners set out all the arrangements concerning their divorce, such as the division of household goods, real estate, arrangements for the children and who pays maintenance.
‘We even provide Artificial Intelligence assistance, which can make improvements to an agreement or even make a proposal itself. People can also request additional explanation, for example about the legislation,’ adds De Meulenaere.
Half an hour's work
According to the tool, filling in a divorce agreement takes an average of half an hour – provided you have everything to hand, that is. This includes your marriage certificate, an overview of debts and all the assets, any existing marriage contract and information about the children.
Up to this point, it's free of charge. ‘We only come in at the end,’ says Demeulenaere. ‘As solicitors, we check the agreement, make suggestions and offer the partners the option of having the file ratified by the court.’ Such a “solicitor's check” costs 200 euros, and ratification by the family court costs 299 euros. So, for 499 euros, you can get divorced online at solicitor De Meulenaere's.
The price is the main reason why people opt for the online approach. Involve a solicitor in all the practicalities and an average divorce can easily cost 1,500 euros.