BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Larissa De Wulf, Carolyn Vanthienen and Alexandra Goossens, Tiberghien
Maintenance Regarding jurisdiction, the judge will apply the rules dictated in the Maintenance Regulation No 4/2009. The Belgian courts have jurisdic - tion if the defendant or the creditor is habitu - ally resident in Belgium. In addition, the Belgian courts with jurisdiction under the Brussels II ter Regulation (Article 3(c) (see 1.2 Choice of Jurisdiction ) in matrimonial matters generally have jurisdiction to decide on ancillary spousal or post-marital maintenance. Parties may des - ignate the Belgian court as the competent court in a written agreement if one of them is habitu - ally resident in Belgium or if they are of Belgian nationality. Spouses or former spouses may also still choose the Belgian court if they had their last common habitual residence in Belgium for at least one year or if a Belgian court has jurisdic - tion over their matrimonial disputes. Belgian courts can hear (separate) financial claims after a foreign divorce if the Belgian court has jurisdiction and the divorce is recognised in Belgium. However, international jurisdiction is excluded for a new action or for an action to modify a maintenance obligation, as long as the creditor still resides in the other EU member state where the original decision was made. Other legal rules are applicable to applications lodged before the Maintenance Regulation No 4/2009 came into force (ratione temporis). Liquidation of property regime of spouses after a divorce The Belgian courts will apply the rules of the Matrimonial Property Regulation No 2016/1103 for legal proceedings instituted on or after 29 January 2019. If a Belgian court is seized to rule on an applica - tion for divorce pursuant to the Brussels II bis
Regulation (or, as of 1 August 2022, the Brus - sels II ter Regulation), the Belgian court will have jurisdiction to rule on matters of the matrimo - nial property regime arising in connection with that application. This jurisdiction should not be allowed without the spouses’ agreement (Article 5) if it is based on the following grounds: • the Belgian court is seized because Belgium is the habitual residence of the applicant (for at least one year before application was made or for at least six months before the applica - tion and the applicant is a Belgian national); • the Belgian court is seized in cases of conver - sion of legal separation into divorce; or • the Belgian court is seized in cases of residu - al jurisdiction. When dealing with separate matrimonial prop - erty proceedings following a divorce, the Bel - gian court has jurisdiction in the following cases (Articles 6 and 7): • where there is a choice of court agreement; • where shared habitual residence is in Belgium at the time the court is seized; • where the most recent habitual residence is in Belgium if one spouse still resides there at the time the court is seized; • where the respondent is resident in Belgium at the time the court is seized; or • where both spouses have Belgian nationality. Other legal rules are applicable to applications lodged before 29 January 2019, when Regula - tion No 4/2009 came into force (ratione tempo - ris). Contesting Jurisdiction The jurisdiction of the Belgian court may be challenged if the above-mentioned rules are not respected. Either party to the financial pro -
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