Calculating Maintenance Costs

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According to Swiss Federal court case law, maintenance is calculated in two stages:

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Step 1: Determination of the minimum subsistence level (basic needs, housing costs, health insurance premiums, health care costs, legal assistance fees , external childcare costs, any school fees ) of all the family members. This information is required  when  the financial circumstances are insufficient.

 

Step 2: Determination of the minimum subsistence level under family law for all family members, i.e. it is made up of the minimum subsistence level under debt collection law plus selected items (health insurance premiums, additional insurance, communication flat rate, unavoidable further education fees, insurance premiums, expenditure on visiting  rights, provision for self-employed persons, taxation, and if necessary any debt repayments).

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End Result:

In end effect,  needs are set of against  income:

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The shortfall for the direct costs for  the children is to be compensated by the non-caring parent as cash maintenance if he/she has sufficient financial means.

 

If the income of the parent in custody for  the children is not sufficient to cover his/her emergency requirements, the shortfall is to be made up by the other parent as care maintenance if he/she has sufficient financial means.

 

If the comparison of the minimum subsistence level under family law of all family members and the total available income shows that there are still financial resources left over afterwards, this is referred to as a surplus. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court has adjudicated that such a  surplus is to be divided among the family members. It also refers to the distribution rule according to adults and minors. This means that the minor children are entitled to half as large a share of the surplus as the parents. However, this rule is not to be applied without restrictions. A deviation from this is indicated in the case of a savings ratio, and also for a variety of other reasons. In this regard, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court has decided stated that all the particularities of the individual cases, such as care relationships, extra-mandatory work efforts, special needs items, etc., must be taken into account when distributing the surplus (cf. Link). Thus, the distribution of the surplus must always be decided  on the basis of each  individual case.