In 2014, at the behest of the Federal Council, Parliament has to decide on a revision of maintenance law. We have our own, detailed idea of what a modern, simple but still fair maintenance right should look like.
The basic principle is as simple as it is plausible: A child has two parents, and both are basically equally responsible for all the concerns of their children - be it the need for care, education or housing, food, clothing or health .
In principle, this means that each parent has a half duty to look after and provide for the child. However, this does not mean that all parents should now automatically live the change model - only those who want to. For the others who cannot or do not want to do this, the half commitment serves as a starting point for assessing the compensation payment to the parent who provides a disproportionate amount of care. So if you don't look after it or look after it less than you should, you pay.
This model not only takes into account the desire and obligation of many parents to have a close relationship with their children, but also the need for gainful employment - including for mothers, who are often still assigned the role of childcare worker. In contrast to the dirigiste model of current legal practice (which should continue to apply even after the revision - and even more so), our approach is non-sexist: it neither cements the role of breadwinner for fathers, nor does it make mothers dependent on alimony (and possibly even welfare) recipients.
We have worked out detailed proposals for the current revision. These can be found in the following documents:
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