Key legal question
Whether the wife could obtain a divorce before the four-year separation period under Art. 115 ZGB.
Extracted holding
Yes. The husband's systematic deception and especially the fraudulent withdrawal of substantial pension assets made continuation of the marriage objectively unbearable.
Extracted reasoning
Art. 115 ZGB requires severe reasons not attributable to the requesting spouse. Ordinary hardships of divorce do not suffice, but the court held that the hidden withdrawal of more than CHF 400,000 in vested benefits, together with the pattern of forgery and asset removal, went beyond normal divorce discomfort and created intolerable hardship.