Family law

Legal area

We assist you in all areas of family law and inheritance law as well as in divorces and separations, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, alimony and child support, partition of matrimonial property, administration orders, supervision and curatorship. This is a wide legal area that has much common ground with other legal areas. This wide scope is part of Krans & van Hilten's vision. Several of this practice group's members are also members of one of the other three legal areas in which our office has expertise: labour law, property and corporate law and personal injury claims. Our services also aim towards alternative ways of solving disputes, like mediation and binding advice. A number of the lawyers also act as lawyer /divorce mediators. In all cases, actively seek new methods to come to solutions. Especially in family law, the relationship between parties remains very important, even more so in cases involving children.
Krans & van Hilten law firm often cooperates with financial specialists, if possible your own financial experts, because they know your (company) situation best. Of course we also have our own network of experts, such as tax consultants, accountants, civil law notaries and psychologists.

Emma Kostense
Lidwien Wellen
Edith van Ruitenbeek-de Bekker
Laura Leunissen
Eveline Asselbergs
Marije Heeringa
Cynthia de Nijs
Pauline Burger
Machteld Verboom

Way of working

Usually one of the lawyers has a short initial interview with you by phone, and after having discussed your case during our practice group meeting, you will be invited for a meeting at our office within a few days,
During this initial personal interview, your lawyer will analyse the problem and will work with you to draw up a strategy. Then we will start working for you. Note that we always bear in mind that a solution after mutual consultation is always preferred. Krans & van Hilten law firm do not consider a divorce or separation as an exclusively legal matter. There are always other aspects, for instance with regard to the children or finances. We offer tailored solutions. As experts, we continue to keep an eye on all aspects of the divorce, whether it is pending through mediation or litigation, and keep a close watch on the total result to be obtained.

Expertise and trends

Krans & van Hilten’s lawyers act as lawyers, as lawyer/divorce mediators and as advisors in mediation procedures. Such support increases the chances of success in many mediation cases. Six lawyers are also divorce mediators. In an international city like The Hague, there are often divorces with international aspects. We also possess the necessary expertise in this field.
Financial aspects often play an important role in a divorce. Insight into the financial and fiscal consequences is therefore absolutely necessary. Krans & van Hilten law firm have specialised in this subject and for this reason our clients include many managing directors/large shareholders, independent professionals and other entrepreneurs. A fast business solution is sometimes preferable to drawn out procedures. Our clients appreciate that we keep that in mind.
Krans & van Hilten law firm are seeing an increasing number of separations of unmarried partners who have children and who have not made arrangements about the financial and family-related consequences of these children. Also in these separations we assist you to the best of our knowledge when settling the consequences.

Furthermore, we regularly provide advice with regard to drawing up prenuptial or postnuptial agreements and cohabitation contracts, as a first or second opinion or in cooperation with a civil law notary. In practice, we see that when separating, many clients are not aware of the tenor of the prenuptial or postnuptial agreements, mainly because legislation in that field changes regularly.
Krans & van Hilten law firm keep a close watch on new developments in this specialisation. This is done with regard to both the content and the ways of working and techniques, like, for instance, collaborative divorce, a new way to come to a settlement of the consequences of the divorce after mutual consultations, where each party has its own lawyer.

Lawyers

The family law practice group at Krans & van Hilten law firm consists of ten lawyers aged between 20 and 60 years, and includes three of the partners. A large number of the lawyers are members of the Association of Family Law Lawyers and Divorce Mediators. There is a lot of in-house experience so the professional level of the practice group is high. Moreover, we pay a lot of attention to knowledge management. For instance, there are weekly meetings where case law and literature are discussed and the lawyers intensively practice promotion of expertise. Furthermore, there are evening meetings where special themes are discussed, as well as in-company courses. Different partners regularly teach their field of expertise.

Krans & van Hilten’s lawyers are sympathetic towards justice and are genuinely interested in your case. It is our responsibility to keep the costs under control and to issue a timely warning for financial consequences.