Facts
Y. and X. married in 2002 and have a common daughter Z. (born 2002). Since spring 2005, the parties have been living separately, with the daughter remaining in the care of the father Y., and the mother X. spending one to two hours per week with the child.
By judgment of November 10, 2008, the District Court of St. Gallen dissolved the marriage and placed Z. under the parental responsibility of the father. It obliged the mother X. to pay an indexed child support of CHF 850 per month from August 2010 onwards. The Cantonal Court confirmed this decision on March 9, 2010.
X. (the appellant) filed a civil law appeal with the Federal Supreme Court and requested the abolition of the maintenance obligation towards her daughter or the remission of the case to the lower instance for the assessment of her employment prospects.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court set aside the Cantonal Court's judgment with regard to child support and remanded the case to the lower instance for the supplementation of the facts and a new decision.
The Federal Supreme Court stated that in cases of limited financial means, particularly high demands must be placed on the utilization of the earning capacity of the parent obliged to pay maintenance. The criteria applicable to unemployment insurance cannot be adopted without further ado. Rather, employment opportunities in the low-wage sector that do not require…