Elise Laureau
Family lawyer and mediator | Focus on Children’s Cases
Elise Laureau is a family lawyer and mediator with a clear focus on cases involving children. She assists parents in matters concerning parental authority, care and contact arrangements, parenting plans, relocation with children (including relocation abroad) and international child abduction.
Within this area of practice, Elise also has extensive experience in matters involving complex family dynamics, including parental alienation, coercive control or domestic violence, as well as cases involving youth care services, the Child Care and Protection Board (Raad voor de Kinderbescherming) or Veilig Thuis (the Dutch advice and reporting centre for domestic violence and child abuse). The best interests of the child are always central to her approach.
Wherever possible, Elise seeks to resolve matters through constructive dialogue, helping parents reach practical and lasting arrangements that work for their children. Where an agreement cannot be reached, she represents her clients in court, including in urgent proceedings.
She also advises clients on the broader legal and financial consequences of a (cross-border) divorce, such as child and spousal maintenance and the division of assets.
Clients value her open, knowledgeable and empathetic approach.
More about Elise Laureau
When parents separate or there is a conflict concerning the children, more is at stake than legal questions: it affects their family, their role as parents and their children’s future. Elise therefore considers it important that parents receive clear guidance, understand the options available to them and are well equipped to make informed decisions.
Elise understands that family law matters often arise at a challenging and uncertain time in her clients’ lives. She adapts her approach to each client’s individual needs, providing clear guidance and a sense of direction throughout the process. Her advice is realistic and solution-focused, with an emphasis on long-term solutions that work for both parents and children.
Thanks to her extensive experience with international cases, Elise is well versed in cross-border matters, such as relocation with children abroad, international child abduction and international divorces.
Memberships and registrations
- Candidate member of the Dutch Association of Family Law and Inheritance Lawyers and Divorce Mediators (vFAS)
- Candidate member of the Dutch Association of International Child Abduction Lawyers (D.I.A.L.)
In the register of legal practice areas of the Netherlands Bar Association, Elise has registered the principal legal practice area of law of persons and family law and the subareas:
- divorce
- maintenance
- contact arrangements
- international private law
- parenthood and acknowledgement
Specialist areas
Elise specialises in the following legal subareas:
- divorce
- dissolution of registered partnership
- termination of cohabitation
- financial settlement (division of community of property, settlement of prenuptial agreements, and settlement of cohabitation agreements)
- spousal maintenance and child maintenance
- child protection cases (supervision orders, placement in care, termination of parental authority)
- descent cases (acknowledgment, adoption, judicial determination of parenthood, annulment of acknowledgment, denial of parenthood, and revocation of adoption)
- disputes about parental authority
- administration, protection order and curatorship
- cases involving civil registry documents
- mediation
Based on this registration, Elise is required to obtain 10 training points in each registered principal legal practice area each calendar year in accordance with the standards of the Netherlands Bar Association.