Law of persons and family law

Father separated from son: how do you maintain the link? "I've been separated for almost 2 years from my wife, who's leaving the canton to settle more than 90 minutes away with our 4-year-old son. To maintain a 'normal' relationship with him as a father, I've taken some time off...

Maintenance payments and attachment of wages " I live in Annemasse. In 2004, I obtained a judgement from the Geneva Court ordering the father of my son to pay a maintenance contribution of CHF 600 for his child. Since then, I have received absolutely nothing from him. He lives in France but works in Geneva....

Division of BVG Under Swiss law, occupational pension claims acquired during the marriage and up to the start of divorce proceedings must be divided between the spouses, in accordance with the Civil Code (article 122 CC). In a typical case, where both spouses work and live in Switzerland, the total amount they have...

Sharing after ten years of separation " I know that at the time of divorce the occupational pension provision is shared equally between the spouses for the years they were married. Does this include my 3rd pillar insurance taken out during the separation? We've been separated for 10 years, so can I deduct these 10 years from my...

Where is my legal domicile? "I've often been asked whether I'm domiciled in Switzerland. What does it mean to be domiciled in Switzerland? Is it enough to have an address there? Annie, Thônex Domicile establishes a person's attachment to a certain territorial area, and is used in particular to establish...

Remove my photo from Facebook "Someone posted my photo on Facebook. Can I ask for it to be removed? Ana, Onex In recent years, social networking sites have become extremely popular. Swiss legislation on the protection of personal rights is far from outdated, and its flexibility makes it possible to deal with this new phenomenon. The...

Moral obligation towards a relative When an elderly person goes into a retirement home or is hospitalised, can their descendants be obliged to contribute to the costs if they have no assets but only a modest income? Adèle, Geneva Your question requires a qualified answer. The law imposes an obligation...

We want to live together again...". After a court-ordered separation, if the couple wants to cancel the separation and live together again, what steps should they take? Danielle, Avully It all depends on the type of separation involved. The first type, extrajudicial separation, also known as de facto separation, is the one...

Our maximum AVS pension " Married since 1967, my wife and I have always paid AVS contributions. A few years ago, I asked my AHV fund for an estimate of our retirement pensions. They told us that the maximum pension for married couples was a total of CHF 3,315.is this correct? José,...