This is the headline in the NZZ am Sonntag on July 14, 2018.
An analysis of the Federal Supreme Court decision
In a recently published ruling, the Federal Supreme Court has, for the first time, departed from the previously valid 10/16 rule. With this decision, the court is initiating a development that fathers' and parents' organizations have long advocated. The legal changes of recent years (custody and child support law) increasingly point towards shared parental responsibility, even after separation or divorce. The previously sacrosanct 10/16 rule, however, prevented precisely this, often for purely financial reasons. To avoid jeopardizing the financial security of one parent (usually the mother), the other parent (usually the father) was frequently obligated to make substantial payments, forcing him to work full-time instead of fulfilling his share of childcare responsibilities.
This excludes fathers from childcare, while mothers lose touch with the labor market and find it nearly impossible to re-enter after 10-16 years. The system thus creates completely the wrong incentives.
The Federal Court has now corrected this for the first time, albeit so far only for very specific cases. However, a further departure from the 10/16 rule is to be expected, as it simply no longer reflects reality or the spirit of the times.
Oliver Hunziker,
President of VeV Switzerland