What is Marriage Brokerage?
Marriage brokering is an activity which involves setting up, in return for payment, meetings between persons whose direct or indirect purpose is marriage or a stable union (Law of 9 March 1993 to regulate and control the activities of marriage brokerage firms).
These activities are performed by marriage agencies. Dating agencies, dating clubs and others are covered by this legislation if they meet this definition of marriage brokerage.
What Are the Conditions for Exercising Marriage Brokerage?
The law is applicable as soon as a system has been set up to use and exploit the personal data of persons who register, in return for payment, in order to seek a partner, with the goal to enter into a lasting relationship.
To operate a marriage brokerage activity as a natural or legal person you must:
- register your business with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises as a marriage agency/dating agency (Nacebel code 9609102). You can go to the counter for enterprises of your choice, which will register your activity there.
- comply with the provisions laid down in the Law of 9 March 1993 to regulate and control the activities of marriage brokerage firms.
- use the standard contract in accordance with the provisions of the Royal Decree of 18 November 2005 on the standard marriage brokerage contract. It is mandatory to copy the content of the legal model contract literally, without changing its order, form or content.
DOWNLOAD THE MODEL CONTRACT (DOCX, 16.75 KB)
Annexes to the standard contract laid down in Article 5 of the Royal Decree of 18 November 2005:
The legal standard contract, as laid down in the Royal Decree of 18 November 2005 provides for, among other things, a mandatory annex which contains the information about the ongoing number of marriage broking contracts and a subdivision of the number of clients according to (Article 5, 1st hyphen of the legal standard contract):
- age
- gender
- place of residence
- nature
- professional activity
- family situation
This annex must enable the person who is about to sign a marriage broking contract to get a clear idea of who your clients are, by age, gender, place of residence, professional activity and family situation.
Enclosed, you can find two templates for the presentation of this annex (in French).
These two annexes are not mandatory and are examples, whose purpose is solely to help you. You may use them as such, or modify them, as long as they still comply with Article 5 of the legal standard contract.
- You may suggest another breakdown by age group or professional activity;
- The place of residence may vary, according to your clients:
- If your clients are mainly international, you may think want to break them down by country;
- If your clients come from all over Belgium, you may want to break them down by province;
- Or if your clients mainly come from the same province, you may have to break them down by municipality or district.
It may also want to indicate the modalities of marriage brokerage (how you work, how your agency is run) in an annex.
