WILLEMSTAD – The government of Curaçao has formally approved a consolidated and modernized version of the 1968 National Ordinance governing the international collection of maintenance and alimony payments.
The updated text was established by national decree on 15 October 2025 and published this week in the Publicatieblad. Authorities stress that this is not a substantive amendment to the law, but a legal and technical update to bring the existing framework in line with Curaçao’s current constitutional structure.
Law implements the New York Convention
The ordinance implements the New York Convention on the Recovery Abroad of Maintenance, enabling Curaçao to pursue alimony and other maintenance obligations across borders.
Under the consolidated version, the Voogdijraad (Guardianship Council) continues to function as both the transmitting and receiving authority for all international recovery procedures. Individuals involved in such cases may still litigate free of charge whenever the treaty applies.
Technical clean-up of outdated Antillean legislation
According to the national decree, the law has been updated “in accordance with the guidelines of the General Transitional Regulation on Legislation and Governance of Country Curaçao.”
This means:
- outdated references from the former Netherlands Antilles legal system have been corrected
- obsolete articles are now formally designated as expired
- editorial language has been modernized
- the text has been re-issued to reflect Curaçao’s post-2010 constitutional framework
Importantly, no policy or procedural changes have been made. The mechanisms for international maintenance collection remain identical to those of the original 1968 ordinance.
Updated version now in force
With its publication, the consolidated ordinance is now officially applicable law in Curaçao, providing a cleaner, more accessible and legally accurate version of the long-standing regulation.
