Key legal question
Whether the monthly post-divorce maintenance awards should be reduced or abolished as requested by the husband
Extracted holding
The maintenance awards were not unlawful and remained at CHF 3,500 until 2008-09-30, CHF 2,700 until 2013-02-28, and CHF 1,500 thereafter until the wife's retirement entitlement.
Extracted reasoning
The marriage was life-shaping; the standard of living during the marriage was the reference point. The husband’s objections to his own needs, the wife’s earning capacity, and the maintenance method were either new, unproven, or legally unfounded. The wife’s need and the husband’s ability to pay justified the staged awards.