Divorce Professionals in Flanders: Policy and Practice Examined

• Published date: 01 October 2013
• Author: Peter Rober,Rachid Baitar,Jan De Mol,Ann Buysse,Ruben Brondeel
• Date: 01 October 2013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12051

DIVORCE PROFESSIONALS IN FLANDERS:

POLICY AND PRACTICE EXAMINED

Rachid Baitar, Ann Buysse, Ruben Brondeel, Jan De Mol, and Peter Rober

Recent Belgian policy changes led to progressiveshared parenting, mediation, and no-f ault legislation.However, little is known

about the practices and policy preferences of the implicated professionals. The present study surveyed 664 Flemish divorce

lawyers, mental health professionals, and mediators.The majority of professionals supports no-fault divorce legislation, unified

family courts, court-independent mediation, and well-informed trajectory decisions, but disagree with a primary caretaker

presumption. Equally shared parenting agreements were uncommon in lawyers’ practice and most frequent among mediators.

Yet, whereas mediators were mostlyskeptical, the majority of lawyers were convinced of the positive effect of such agreements

on children. Mental health professionals are set apart by exclusive maternal authority agreements and rarely providing

trajectory information in their practice. Implications for clients, practice, and policy are addressed.

Keypoints for the Family Court Community

• Discusses recent sociological and legal developments in Flanders

• Details key policy and practice preferences of different divorce professionals

• Clarifies policy and practice differences and similarities between divorce professionals on:

• Equally shared parenting agreements

• No-fault divorce and the nature of mediation services

• Informing on divorce trajectories and changing divorce trajectories

• Informs on possibilities for interprofessionnal collaboration and areas of expertise

Keywords: Divorce;Divorce Mediation;Divorce Policies Lawyers;Mediators;and Mental Health Professionals.

INTRODUCTION

SOCIAL BACKGROUND

Over the last three decades, Flanders (as part of Belgium) emerged as the European champion as

far as divorce rates are concerned. Indeed, in about three decades, the divorce rates increased 300

percent from 0.66/1000 inhabitants in 1970 to 2.55/1000 in 2005 (Corijn, 2005). In 2010, 24,926

marriages as well as 13,711 legal divorces took place in Flanders (General Directorate of Statistical

and Economic Information, 2011a). Estimates also indicated that people who married in 2009 had a

64 percent chance to be divorced over the next 50 years (General Directorate of Statistical and

Economic Information, 2011b). Nevertheless, in the previous decade, marriage rates remained fairly

stable with even a slight increase around 2003 (Corijn & Lodewijckx, 2009). The decline in first

marriages was matched by the increase of rapid remarriages of divorced individuals (Corijn &

Lodewijckx, 2009). More specifically, 30 percent of individuals who divorcedbetween 1990 and 2003

were remarried within 5 years following their legal divorce (Corijn, 2005).

Due to its effects on the quality of life of children, parents, and other family members, divorce

draws a lot of attention in society and from policy makers (Hemelsoen, 2012; Maes, 2012). In this

regard, it is estimated that yearly around 20,000 to 25,000 Flemish children experience parental

divorce. One fifth of children younger than 17 years old had parents who no longer lived together

(Lodewijckx, 2005, 2007). Similarly, around 24 per cent of young adolescents were found to have

Correspondence: Rachid.baitar@gmail.com

FAMILY COURTREVIEW, Vol. 51 No. 4, October 2013 542–556

© 2013 Association of Familyand Conciliation Cour ts