Richard studied International and European law and Portuguese linguistics and literature at Utrecht University in 2003 where he also defended an award winning doctorate thesis in human rights and (comparative) parentage law in 2009. He worked for Everaert as a legal counsel in 2010 only to rejoin Everaert in September 2022 as an attorney.
For many years Richard worked as a legal counsel and researcher at the Internationaal Juridisch Instituut (IJI) in The Hague where he provided legal advice to Dutch law firms, public notaries and courts on the application of private international law and foreign civil law. Richard was sworn into the Dutch bar as an attorney in February 2020.
At Everaert Richard now specializes in private international law aspects of (international) family law, in particular in the area of adoption, parentage law (including surrogacy) and name change procedures. He also works together closely with our lawyers in the areas of family migration, permanent residence and nationality queries.
Richard still publishes now and then about human rights and aspects of private international law, in particular family law matters. Accordingly, the determination of legal parentage remains of great importance as an important 'preliminary question' in applying for citizenship. It is not always clear if and how a child’s parentage has been established abroad and under which legal conditions this should be recognized in the Netherlands. In September 2022, the Advocate General of the Supreme Court referred to Richard’s comments on the main legal provisions on the assessment of foreign deeds regarding the determination of parentage outside the Netherlands (see Public Prosecutor's Office at the Supreme Court, 23 September 2022, ECLI:NL:PHR:2022:848 ).
Publications
International commercial surrogacy arrangements: the interests of the child as a concern of both human rights and private international law (met E.N. Frohn), in: Feestbundel T.M.C. Asser Instituut 50 jaar (2015)
Foundational facts, relative truths: A Comparative Law Study on Children’s Right to Know Their Genetic Origins, Intersentia, Antwerpen, dissertatie, 2009
