If you are entrusted with parental authority over a minor (or minors), you not only have the right but also the duty to raise and care for them. While raising children goes smoothly in many

For learning and amusement, I enrolled some time ago in a course on Personal and Family Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Curaçao. A few weeks later, I found myself in

Although a divorce at the hairdresser is the cheapest, I am regularly approached with requests for legal assistance in divorce cases and questions about alimony. A divorce is finalized through a court order and is

Before bedtime, I like to read the children fairy tales filled with magic. These centuries-old folk stories often end with the well-known phrase “and they lived happily ever after.” That a long and happy life

Some time ago, I handled a case in which the opposing party—the father, using the fictitious name Matteo—did everything he could to avoid his payment obligations. This was despite the fact that, under the law,

After the end of a relationship between the parents, the child has the right to maintain contact with both parents. This applies both to the parent with parental authority and to the parent without it.

Spousal maintenance is intended to protect spouses from financial hardship after a divorce. As long as the parties agree, they can make any arrangements they wish regarding spousal maintenance. In such cases, the law can

This month marks four years since I opened the doors of my own law firm, according to a notification from the social media platform LinkedIn. Without that notification, this milestone would undoubtedly have passed me

Did you know in which ways a marriage can end? Marriage ends by (i) death, or (ii) if a missing person who is presumed dead or has been declared deceased is still alive on the

Relieved, my client takes a deep breath. We stare at a statement of proceedings indicating that the parties have reached an agreement to end the case in accordance with the attached parenting plan, that the

Just over a year ago, I decided to focus my attention—and thus my practice—primarily on matters involving personal and family law. Since then, I’ve been saying “no” more often when approached with cases from other

To request an extract from the Guardianship Register, an application form must be completed and submitted to the registry of the Court of First Instance, where a public register is maintained by the clerk in

A long time ago, sometime in the first half of the 1990s, I lived in Amsterdam with my parents. After an adventurous vacation on my birth island, my parents decided that they wanted to remigrate

Within five days after the birth of our youngest little one, we recently went to the lively Otrobanda where Public Affairs (‘Kranshi’) is located. You can probably guess what we had to do—we had to

Fathers who wish to acknowledge their child(ren) come in all shapes and sizes. There are fathers who contribute monthly to the costs of raising and caring for their child(ren) while barely seeing them, if at

Although child abduction cases are generally intense and far-reaching, the most recent international abduction case I handled fortunately ended with a whimper rather than a bang. In that case, a man and a woman were

When spouses separate through divorce, the court may determine partner alimony in its decision or in a subsequent ruling. The court generally orders the spouse with the greater financial capacity to pay partner alimony to

Under the law, a minor (a person who has not yet reached the age of eighteen) may not travel without the consent of his or her legal representative(s). If the minor has not been legally

Recently, I worked together with a lawyer who is not registered with the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. I acted as the ‘local’ authorized

Living on a tropical island is a conscious choice for an increasing number of people. After making the big move, some conclude that island life is everything they hoped for—and more. While for some the

Most marriages experience a difficult period sooner or later, during which the sense of connection diminishes. Sometimes differences of opinion turn into arguments that last longer and longer, and at a certain point it becomes

On 21 June of this year, the judge of the Court of First Instance rendered a judgment in summary proceedings in the case brought by the well-known Curaçaoan baseball player Kenley Jansen (owner of the