Service Area

Clients abroad

Our international practice is an integral part of the firm. Our clients include expats in the Netherlands, Dutch nationals living abroad, and clients with cross-border assets or dual nationality. For these cases, video consultation is not just an alternative to an office visit; it is the standard form of guidance.

Three elements characterize our international practice:

• Time zone flexibility.
  For clients in other time zones, we schedule meetings in the early morning or late afternoon, depending on the client’s time zone.
• Document workflow.
  Secure uploads, screen sharing, and version control are part of daily practice for international cases involving foreign documents such as marriage certificates, birth certificates, and foreign court rulings.
• Continuity per case.
  The same lawyer handles the case regardless of the physical distance between lawyer and client; Legal Counsel provide internal support.

In our cases, we regularly see that clients from abroad consciously choose assistance from the Netherlands, sometimes making a special trip to our office for key moments. For cases with complex or international elements, location is generally secondary to specialization.

More about international family law.

Throughout the Netherlands: from one office to all courts

From our office in Maarssen, we assist clients throughout the Netherlands in family law and inheritance law cases, either at the office or via secure video calling. The choice between an office visit and a video consultation is a consideration made per case and per stage of the process; in most cases, the two alternate.

Our lawyers are registered as lawyers in the Netherlands with the Dutch Bar Association and can appear before all district courts and courts of appeal in the Netherlands from a single physical location in Maarssen. For clients, this means: wherever your case can best be handled legally, that is where we will act.

Our clients rate our guidance highly, with an average of 4.9 out of 5 on Google. You can read their experiences on our review page.

Regional pages

For clients searching by city name, we have regional pages featuring case types that frequently occur in those regions. These pages complement our national working method.

Family law by region:

• Divorce lawyer Amsterdam: expat community, international divorces, and complex assets.
• Divorce lawyer Utrecht: international employees and entrepreneurs.
• Divorce lawyer Enschede: Dutch-German border region, family businesses, and cross-border law.
• Divorce lawyer Hilversum: media sector, director-major shareholder (DGA) structures for production companies, and Gooi-region assets.
• Divorce lawyer Amersfoort: pension rights, businesses, and international work relationships.

Inheritance law by region:

• Inheritance law lawyer Utrecht: estate settlement and conflicts between heirs for clients from Utrecht and the surrounding area.
• Inheritance law lawyer Enschede: estate settlement and international inheritance law issues for clients in the Eastern Netherlands.

Family law: national due to specialization

Family law is an area of law where specialization is becoming increasingly important. The combination of Book 10 of the Dutch Civil Code (private international law), European regulations on jurisdiction and matrimonial property, and additional case law regarding pensions, alimony, and corporate assets requires daily practice to provide genuine added value in cases.

At our firm, you work with lawyers who exclusively handle family and inheritance law. This has three practical consequences for your case:

• The legal analysis begins without a learning curve; pattern recognition is available internally.
• International dimensions are identified early in the case, not just at the time of litigation.
• In the event of your lawyer’s illness or vacation, a colleague with the same level of expertise is available to ensure the continuity of the case.

Inheritance law: central location for dispersed heirs

In inheritance law cases, the client dynamics are often fundamentally different from family law. An estate typically has three to eight heirs who must reach agreements together; these heirs often live scattered across the Netherlands or abroad. A central location then offers a logistical advantage over a local office located near only one of the heirs.

In practice, we find that one joint physical meeting at the start of the case, with all heirs at the table, strengthens the lawyer’s management and simplifies the subsequent process. After that, much of the guidance takes place digitally: telephone consultations, secure document uploads, and video consultations for strategic choices. Naturally, physical appointments are always possible.

More about our working method in inheritance law cases.

How do we work in practice?

Our working method combines office visits with digital guidance in a way that suits the type of case and you as a client. Not every phase of a case requires the same form of contact; in most cases, email, telephone consultations, video consultations, and office visits alternate.

Initial contact

Initial contact takes place in writing via the contact form or by telephone via our secretariat. Based on your situation, the secretariat will schedule an appointment for an initial meeting within one working day, usually within ten working days. During an intake meeting, we begin legal guidance and a case file is opened. During a consultation meeting, you discuss your legal situation at an hourly rate, without further work following. Throughout your case, you will work with the same lawyer from initial orientation to completion.

Which form of contact for which moment?

Which form of contact is appropriate for which moment in the case depends on the nature of the consultation. In practice, we generally see the following distribution:

Form of contact	Threshold	Suitable for
Email	Low	Short questions, written updates, document exchange
Telephone consultation	Low	Short updates, direct questions, organizational coordination
Video consultation (30-45 min)	Low to medium	Strategic choices, progress meetings, document discussion
Office visit (60-90 min)	Higher	Initial intake for complex cases, key moments, completion

Table 1 — four forms of contact × case moments

A case develops week by week. Most moments when you need something fit perfectly into the first three channels. We reserve office visits for moments when they add substantive value.

Technical aspects of video consultation

For video consultations, we use a secure connection that allows you to participate from home or work. Documents can be shared during the consultation via screen sharing. Prior to the meeting, you will receive an agenda and any relevant documents; afterwards, you will receive a written summary of the agreements made.

Office visit or video: the same quality of service

At our firm, there is no difference in quality between a case handled primarily via video and a case where you visit the office regularly. Preparation, legal analysis, document handling, and strategy determination are identical.

It makes no difference to your case whether you choose an office visit, a video consultation, or a combination of both. The choice is yours.

During a consultation meeting, we will discuss how you would prefer to organize your case.

Trust and quality

Simmelink Lawyers is affiliated with the Dutch Bar Association.
Read more about our reviews or see how we work via our working method.