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Married or living together

When is a person regarded as your partner by the authorities?

Married or a registered partner

Are you married? Then your spouse is your partner. If you have a registered partnership, your registered partner is regarded as your partner.

Living together

What if you are not married, nor registered partners, but you do live at the same address? A person you live with is regarded as your partner in these situations:

  • You have a notarial cohabitation contract.
  • You have a child together.
  • You are deemed each other's partners under a pension scheme.
  • You own a house together.
  • You or the other person has a minor child who also lives at the address. Only if 1 of you rents a room from the other, or if you both rent a room from a 3rd party, you are not each other's partners. You must have a rental contract.

Child or parent no longer regarded as partner

Are you living with your child or parent? Until 2025, in this situation your child or parent was regarded as your partner. This is no longer the case since 1 January, 2025.

Living apart

If you can prove that you no longer live at the same address and you are planning to separate, you are no longer regarded as each other's partner. If your partner has been admitted to a nursing home, you are still regarded as partners.

Partners for part of the year

Is 1 of your children eligible for a grant for students in secondary education (link in Dutch)? For this scheme, we take into consideration the calendar year in which the school year starts. If you live or lived together for more than 6 months during this calendar year, you are considered partners for the entire school year. Even if you have separated.

If you are repaying a study loan, we consider your partner situation per month. Your repayments will be based on the situation on the 1st of the month.

EU students

Do you wish to apply for student finance based on the fact that your non-Dutch partner works in the Netherlands for at least 32 hours a month? Then you only have a partner when you:

  • are married, or
  • are in a registered partnership, or
  • can prove that your are in a long-term relationship.

Sometimes exceptions may be possible

In some situations, it may not be fair to include your partner's income. In the following situations you do not have to include your partner's income: 
 
  • Your partner is missing.
  • Your partner has been in prison for more than 3 months.
  • Your partner does not live in the Netherlands and you have been officially recognised as a refugee.
Apply for the exception using the form ‘Aanvragen of stopzetten uitzondering meetellen partner’.
Sometimes it may not be in your best interest to apply for the exception. Our staff can advise you about this. Please contact us via the contact page.
 
Are you a student and do you care for a child under the age of 18? And do you want to apply for a childcare allowance because one of the situations mentioned above applies to you? In that case, you do not need to apply for the exception separately. 
 
You can apply for it at the same time using the form ‘Applying and making changes single parent allowance’ on the single parent page.

Changes

Has your partner relation ended? Or do want to inform us of a new partner relationship? Please go to Updating your personal details and check what to do.