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Child benefits counted in parent’s civil subsistence budget

JK 98 202Other CourtSep 6, 1998Confirmed

Open source

Extracted by Omnilex

Omnilex summary

The court held that, where a parent lives with a minor child, the financial situation of the household must generally be assessed as a unit. Accordingly, the child allowance and the child maintenance contribution are counted as income of the parent, while the increased child base amount and the child’s health insurance premium are counted as expenses. The plaintiff’s proposal to separate the mother’s and child’s budgets was rejected as unrealistic and, in any event, incapable of materially changing the surplus over the civil subsistence minimum. The first-instance court’s calculation was therefore upheld.

Omnilex headnote

Civil subsistence minimum; household budget calculation for a parent living with a minor child. In the case of an unmarried minor child living with the applicant, the economic situation of the household is to be assessed as a unit; child-related benefits and maintenance contributions are to be included on the income side, while corresponding child-related needs are to be included on the expense side. A separate budget allocation between parent and minor child is generally excluded as artificial and contrary to life experience; in any event, it is immaterial where it would not affect the surplus (consid. ...). Distinction from adult children in the same household, for whom a quid pro quo approach based on household contributions applies.

Full text

Gemäss ständiger Praxis werden unmündige Kinder, welche mit einem UR-Ansprecher zusammenleben, sowohl einkommens- wie auch auslagenseitig im Rahmen der finanziellen Situation der Eltern berücksichtigt. Es wird eine Analyse der wirtschaftlichen Verhältnisse der ganzen Haushaltsgemeinschaft vorgenommen, die in der Lebenswirklichkeit eine Einheit bildet. Bloss bei mündigen Kindern im gleichen Haushalt wird zum System der Anrechnung von Leistung (Verpflegung, Wohnkostenanteil, Wäschebesorgung usw.) und Gegenleistung (zu erwartender Haushaltsbeitrag des mündigen Kindes als Einkommen der Eltern) übergegangen. Daher rechnete der Amtsgerichtspräsident vorliegend zu Recht sowohl die Kinderzulage als auch den zugesprochenen Kinderunterhaltsbeitrag des Beklagten der Klägerin als Einkommen an. Im Gegenzug wurden aber auch der um 25 % erhöhte Kindergrundbetrag sowie die Krankenkassenprämie für den minderjährigen Sohn der Klägerin voll als Auslagen angerechnet. Diese Auslagen müssten bei getrennter Betrachtungsweise im Notbedarf der Klägerin unberücksichtigt bleiben. Ferner müsste bei einer (lebensfremden) Aufsplittung der Finanzhaushalte von Mutter und Kind auch dem dreijährigen Sohn Wohnkosten von mindestens einem Drittel angerechnet werden, was eine Reduktion des Notbedarfs der Klägerin bewirken würde. Insgesamt ergäben sich somit bei einer getrennten Berechnungsweise, wie sie die Klägerin postuliert, keine wesentlichen Veränderungen bezüglich des Überschusses der Klägerin über ihren zivilprozessualen Notbedarf.

Keywords

subsistence minimumhousehold budgetminor childincome attributionexpense attributionchild maintenancechild allowance

Extracted by Omnilex

Key legal questions extracted by Omnilex

Key legal question

Whether child allowance and child maintenance must be counted as income of the parent living with the minor child.

Extracted holding

Yes. For a parent living with a minor child in the same household, both child allowance and the child maintenance contribution may be treated as income in the household budget assessment.

Extracted reasoning

Established practice assesses the economic situation of the whole household as a unit when a minor child lives with the applicant; the child is considered within the parents’ financial sphere.

Key legal question

Whether the child’s increased base amount and health insurance premium must also be included as expenses in the parent’s budget.

Extracted holding

Yes. The corresponding child-related expenses are likewise fully included in the parent’s needs calculation.

Extracted reasoning

Because the household is assessed as a financial unit, the child-related burdens are set against the household’s overall resources; a separate treatment would be artificial and would not materially change the surplus.

Key legal question

Whether the plaintiff’s household budget must be split between mother and child for purposes of the civil subsistence minimum.

Extracted holding

No separate split was warranted on the facts; even under such an artificial split, no material change in the plaintiff’s surplus would result.

Extracted reasoning

For minor children, the ordinary approach is to assess the household as a whole. A separate allocation would be unrealistic and would not affect the outcome materially.

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