Before going to a court I'd like to figure out what I'm in for.
Is it lawyers who know how to do the calculation?
Anyone has a recommendation for one?
Can't find any precise information online about duration & amount for alimony payments. In particular about "Maintenance payments for ex-spouse" part.
Thanks for your reply!
I've came across these pages before. What they don't provide is a formula or rules how I can calculate the alimony myself.
They just say that it depends on this and that and that the court will decide.
I'd like to know before going to the court what is reasonable in my case.
That's why looking probably for a lawyer recommendation.
The general concept currently applied in divorce is that post-divorce each partner will then be responsible for his/her own costs.
Exceptions are made when one partner has been a [mostly] stay-at-home spouse, running the household, perhaps working part-time while the other was working and supporting them both. In such a case, the court may estimate the number of years it will take the one who has thus far not been employed to build up his/her skills and reintegrate into the working world. For the interim period, alimony can be granted for those limited number of years, sometimes in decreasing steps until both persons are standing on their own feet.
Other factors that go into such calculations include the duration of the marriage and also the age of each spouse, because that influences the above reasoning. Also the ages of any children, and how long it will be until the parent with whom they will reside can safely leave them to go out to work.
Child-support is specified separately from the alimony for either ex-spouse.
Pension funds of both parties are split between the two.
Actual numbers therefore depend on real living costs, and the qualifications and employment prospects in any job, and not on, say, the concept of any right to maintaining one's former living standard.
If you are the primary income earner, and there are children involved, it's a *lot* of money that you will need to pay out to separate. Honestly, I think getting a marriage counsellor and spending on whatever makes the spouse happy is probably cheaper than divorce! It will be a lot cheaper than a lawyer!
Rough ballpark - you should be able to keep about 4000chf for your own very basic living costs, then if there are children involved, 60-80% of anything you earn over that amount will be spent towards the living costs of your spouse for at least the next 2 years, if they are not independently wealthy or earning a very strong income.
If there are children involved....this will go on for a very long time...
If you are the secondary income earner, with care of children plus likely caring responsibilities of the older generation in the future, then I would be pushing for 70% of any accumulated wealth to compensate for loss of career progression during the marriage and in the future. If you are the primary income earner, you will continue to have the ability to earn (and save) significantly more...
At minimum 50% of all combined pension fund assets.
and 50% of any other accumulated wealth during the marriage.
and a payment towards living costs for the non-working/low-income spouse.
plus whatever is deemed necessary for the basic care and upkeep of the children.
The *best* investment is to do whatever you can to be supportive to your spouse so that they become financially independent as quickly as possible. This is where it seriously backfires (and rightly so) if you have been a spouse who has been extremely happy to have a stay-at-home partner, maybe even undermining their desire to get a job, build a career, or do further studies..
For example, moving early to find a good (cheap) flat, ensuring they have enough money to buy suitable clothing and equipment needed to apply for a job (when I returned to work after having kids, it cost a significant amount of money that we did not have to get my work wardrobe organised, shoes, and pay for a travel pass, organise the home, set up childcare)....
So that is why 'it depends' is really the answer, and it's super complicated. The bottom line for negotiation is understanding what happens if there is no settlement - if there is no agreement/settlement, then the only one who wins are the lawyers...
It depends also, very much, on the sort of assets/wealth/income you have. Basically, usually, the more you have, the more arguing, and the more money wasted on lawyers....
The simplest separation/divorce should (in theory) be if both partners earn similar incomes, there is very little accumulated wealth that can easily be split 50/50, you both downsize quickly so that you can afford your living costs and not be freaked out (more stress=more argument)....and no kids!
Right, it is complicated and the answer is 'it depends'.
That's why in order to negotiate reasonably (without the court) I'd like someone knowledgable to actually do the calculations for my case.
Thus the original question for a recommendation for a lawyer (or whoever does it) for the computation.
I really hope that the dire picture you are drawing is not accurate anymore after recent (2020 or so) corrections to the family law, where both spouses are now expected/encouraged to be independent.
Also in my case I'm going for 50/50 custody, which means the argument "i don't have time to work because i have a child, so you have to pay for me" is not valid anymore, since I'm in exactly the same situation regarding how much time i have to work.
If you have legal insurance I suggest contacting your provider. Ours covers divorce under the ‘family legal protection’ section, meaning the cost is capped at our excess, chf500.
Included with this is legal advice in the form of telephone discussions, a written divorce agreement (once formally separated) covering the financial/logistical elements etc, and other ad-hoc support as needed (not sure to what extent as never got that far).
If you don’t have legal insurance you could reach out to a lawyer like Robin Ernst - https://ernst-law.ch/?lang=en - for a personalised calculation. I have no idea how much the costs would be if dealing with them directly.
Good luck
This written agreement can be made not only once formally separated, but also at any time before separation. It is the best way to go, if the parties can agree on the elements, as it reduces the actual Court proceedings and the fees of those to a) checking the validity in terms of the law and fairness, and b) confirming the agreement.
Lawyers may do the calculation, but mediators can facilitate understanding, as the couple is working towards this written agreement. Wherever this can be achieved, it reduces the legal fees considerably.
Just be aware that 50/50 custody does not mean you get the kids every weekend. A friend of mine's husband thought he could do 50/50 but then drop the kids back to mum any time he had a work deadline, school holidays or anything else that interfered with daily life.
If your kids are under 12 years old and you don't have extended family available to cover all the kids sick days and school holidays, then the cost of a nanny needs to be factored in as well. Unless you are super lucky to have a completely flexible, highly paid, part time and family-centred employment situation.
2.5 days of each school week, plus 50% of all school holidays plus every second weekend, is realistic 50/50....
You could give it a try with this (however, it is not quite trivial):
https://www.gerichte-zh.ch/themen/pa…erechnung.html
Or have it done for you for CHF 350 plus tax:
https://www.unterhaltsberechnung.ch/…ltsberechnung/
Or go to a lawyer.