projetos
BGE 3 I 112 ΓÇó Divorce granted after both spouses agreed
BGE 3 I 112Coletânea oficial do Tribunal Federal (BGE) / Volume I24 de dez. de 1874Granted
The husband appealed a Zürich appellate judgment rejecting his divorce claim. Before the Federal Court, the wife changed position and expressly agreed to the divorce, acknowledging that the marriage was irretrievably broken and that she had contributed to that breakdown. The court held that a joint divorce request could be made even at the Federal Court stage, provided it rested on the facts established below and was not collusive. Finding the marital relationship deeply and irreparably shattered, the court dissolved the marriage and allocated the procedural costs to the husband as the party chiefly at fault.
Art. 45 of the Federal Act on Civil Status and Marriage; joint divorce request before the Federal Court and irretrievable marital breakdown: a later agreement of the respondent spouse to the divorce may be taken into account on appeal, provided it finds support in the facts established by the cantonal courts and is not the product of collusion. Where those facts show such a deep deterioration of the marital relationship that continued cohabitation is incompatible with marriage, divorce must be granted. Costs may be charged to the spouse bearing the principal responsibility for the breakdown.