Child Maintenance

The new article 276a of the Swiss Civil Code states a principle according to which the obligation to maintain one’s minor child takes priority over other family law obligations. This is beneficial for the parent who has day-to-day care and control of the child. Independent of their former marital status in case of a separation that parent will get a compensation for the loss of income. This compensation will be part of the child maintenance. It is now up to the courts, to specify the statute and establish a method to calculate and evaluate the amounts of the compensation.

Pension Settlements

The decisive moment regarding the splitting and balancing of the pension funds (BVG-funds) between the spouses is the date the filing for divorce becomes pending. No longer – as it used to be – the date when the court’s ruling on the divorce becomes legally binding. This provides more fairness, because under the former legal framework a party could try to attain a financial advantage by delaying the proceeding.