This is the headline of the NZZ am Sonntag on July 14, 2018.
An analysis of the Federal Court decision
In a recently published decision, the Federal Court for the first time distanced itself from the previously valid 10/16 rule. The court is thus initiating a development that fathers' and parents' organizations have been calling for for a long time. The legal changes in recent years (custody and maintenance law) increasingly point to shared parental responsibility, even after a separation/divorce. However, the previously sacrosanct 10/16 rule prevented exactly this, often for purely monetary reasons. In order not to endanger the security of one parent (usually the mother), the other parent (usually the father) was often obliged to make high payments, which forced him to work full-time instead of carrying out his share of care.
As a result, fathers are excluded from childcare, while mothers lose connection to the labor market and are hardly able to re-enter the labor market after 10 - 16 years. The system thus creates completely wrong incentives.
The Federal Court has now corrected this for the first time, although so far only for very specific cases. However, it is to be expected that there will be a further departure from the 10/16 rule, as it simply no longer corresponds to reality and the spirit of the times.
Oliver Hunziker
President VeV Switzerland