History[edit]

Divorce was allowed in the 19th century, and Belgium was one of the European countries to allow divorce by mutual consent before the 1970s, although in practice this was applied restrictively. Divorce could be obtained on a fault ground or by mutual consent. In 1974, a new additional ground was added allowing for unilateral divorce based on a ten-years separation period. In 1982, this was reduced to five years, and in 2000 to two years. In 1987, adultery was decriminalized,^[3] although it remained a ground of divorce. Although in 1994 the divorce procedure was drastically reformed, the grounds of divorce and its consequence remained the same. Until 2007, Belgium law remained a strong fault-based system, and the party who cited separation as ground to divorce against the will of the 'innocent' spouse was deemed to be at fault.^[4] The new divorce law of 2007 is largely no-fault, although some serious faults regarding the conviction of a criminal offense against the other spouse prohibit the asking of alimony by the guilty party (see Article 301).^[2]