What am I entitled to if I get divorced?

“We’re getting divorced” are words that trigger an avalanche of emotions and many questions. But in addition to painful feelings, a divorce also means a lot of decisions will need to be taken. These decisions will affect both you and your children and include issues such as custody arrangements and entitlement to maintenance payments.

There is also the question of maintaining your current standard of living and how shared assets will be divided up. No two divorces are exactly alike and a judge will deal with each one according to the individual circumstances. As a woman, you should ensure you understand all of the consequences, what your options are, and obtain expert advice from a neutral third party.

If you get divorced, securities, property, shares, artwork, cars, jewelry and household goods will all need to be divided up, in addition to liquid assets such as cash. The proportion of assets you are entitled to in the event of a consensual divorce depends on the marital property regime, of which there are three different types in Switzerland: joint ownership of acquired property, communal property and separation of property.

Without a marriage contract, a married couple in Switzerland is subject to the joint ownership of acquired property regime. This means that each person receives their personal property and their acquired property. Personal property are those items that are solely for personal use by the spouse (e.g., clothes, jewelry, etc.), the assets brought into the marriage, and the gifts and legacies received during the marriage. Acquired property includes the assets which a spouse acquires in exchange for a consideration during the period of the marital property regime, in particular through employment. When the marital property is divided up, each spouse retains their own property and, in principle, half of the acquired property (after deduction of debts).

If communal property was selected in the marriage contract – meaning that property is held jointly – you or your husband can decide how to divide up your assets under the marriage contract. If you agreed to separation of property, your assets will not be divided up when your marriage is dissolved. Instead, you will each retain the assets assigned to you in the marriage contract.

Things get more complicated when international aspects come into play – if, for example, one person is a foreign national, you have a foreign marriage contract, or there are other ties to a country abroad.

In the event of a divorce, the question often arises as to what to do with retirement savings. Note that even if you are not currently working or haven’t worked for a certain period, you need to make sure your position is secure if you get divorced:

1. Pillar 1: To calculate the AHV/IV pension of divorced persons, the income earned by both persons during the years of marriage is divided equally. This takes place at the time of pension calculation at the latest and a joint request should be submitted to an account-holding AHV compensation fund.
2. Pillar 2: As a spouse, you are also entitled to half of your spouse's vested benefits (BVG) acquired during the marriage. This means that in the event of a divorce, savings in the occupational pension scheme are divided equally and transferred to your pension fund or to a vested benefits account.
3. Pillar 3: Pillar 3a savings count as goods (personal property or acquired property) out of which contributions were paid. Unlike the other two pension pillars, the balance is divided up according to the terms of the marriage contract. The amount to be transferred must remain part of a fixed pension plan and cannot be freely invested.

However, in the event of divorce you should review your retirement situation. You can read about the things you need to consider in the following article.

Do you need assistance or are you uncertain what will happen to your assets if you get divorced? We will be happy to advise you in person.