Parents who separate must regulate two issues cleanly: the allocation of parental authority and child support. Poorly drafted agreements often come back to bite years later — a practical overview.
Since the 2014 Civil Code revision, joint parental authority is the statutory default (Art. 296 para. 2 CC) — regardless of whether the parents are married, separated or divorced. Child support is governed by Art. 276 ff. CC and consists of monetary and care components.
In legal practice, three questions dominate: who decides on the child? Who looks after the child when? And who pays how much? Properly documented arrangements avoid lengthy adjustment proceedings — and above all protect the child.
1. What does parental authority include?
Parental authority covers the parents' rights and duties towards the child: upbringing, legal representation, asset administration and determination of residence. Parents jointly decide on fundamental matters — school choice, religious upbringing, medical interventions, foreign travel, change of residence.
Day-to-day matters are decided alone by whichever parent the child is currently with (Art. 301 para. 1bis CC). Major decisions require both holders' consent — agreement often fails and ends up before the child protection authority (KESB).
2. When is sole parental authority ordered?
The child protection authority (KESB) or court orders sole authority only if the child's best interests so require (Art. 298 CC). Common reasons: sustained escalation of parental conflict, abuse, serious illness or addiction of a parent, or a credible risk of child abduction abroad.
In several decisions (e.g. BGE 142 III 56) the Federal Supreme Court has clarified: mere disagreement between parents is not enough — what matters is whether communication difficulties concretely endanger the child's interests.
3. Custody and care arrangements
Custody (Obhut) means the actual care of the child — separate from parental authority. Possible models include sole custody, alternating custody (shared time model) or the residence model with contact rights. With alternating custody, the distance between residences should not complicate the school choice.
4. Child support — the two components
Monetary maintenance
Monetary maintenance covers the child's direct costs — food, clothing, housing, school, health insurance, leisure. It is typically paid by the parent with the higher income. Calculation bases are the Zurich tables or the Bern tables — but the court ultimately determines the specific need.
Care maintenance
Since 2017 (Art. 285 para. 2 CC), there is also care maintenance: where a parent reduces gainful activity to care for the child, this contribution replaces the lost income. It ends when the youngest child reaches school age or care becomes possible otherwise.
5. How is maintenance calculated?
Calculation follows a multi-step procedure — simplified:
1. Determine the existence minimum of both parents (debt-enforcement minimum + housing + health insurance + taxes).
2. Child's need according to Zurich/Bern table (age- and income-dependent).
3. Allocation of the surplus (typically 1/3 per parent, 1/6 per child).
4. Setting care maintenance, if applicable.
5. Consolidation into monthly amounts.
Amounts vary widely: for a child in a middle-class household, CHF 1,200–2,500 per month is common. Very high incomes are capped by the tables — for high-income spouses the one-third method is often applied.
6. Adjustment of maintenance
Salary increases, unemployment, illness, remarriage of the recipient — all of these can justify an adjustment (Art. 286 CC). Anyone seeking an adjustment must credibly demonstrate a substantial and lasting change of circumstances. Retroactive reduction is possible only within narrow limits (Art. 286 para. 2 CC).
7. International families — when one parent lives abroad
In Ukrainian-Swiss families and other international set-ups, the PILA (Art. 79 PILA for maintenance) and the Hague Child Abduction Convention apply. Important: moving abroad with a child without the consent of the other parental-authority holder qualifies as child abduction under the Convention — the duty to return can be enforced within weeks.
8. Pitfalls from practice
• Oral maintenance agreements are unenforceable — court approval or setting is required.
• Municipal collection assistance is often forgotten when the debtor doesn't pay — it is free and effective.
• Adult children in education retain a maintenance claim (Art. 277 para. 2 CC) where the education can be completed in reasonable time.
• Children's inheritances are administered by the parental-authority holder — without an inventory at the KESB, accusations may follow later.
• International element: a move abroad without consent is child abduction — even for the mother and a Swiss citizen.
Practical note
Sobiera Legal Consulting supports parents in negotiating maintenance agreements, in KESB proceedings and on international child-law issues — in Ukrainian, Russian, German, English and French. For threatened adjustments, moves abroad or conflict with the KESB, early advice is worthwhile.