Facts
By judgment of February 1, 2005, the parties separated by mutual request, with the approval of the convention they had concluded. They were unable to agree on the treatment of the wife's debts to the social welfare authority due to the support services she had received for herself and the children between the dissolution of the common household and the divorce. The wife demanded that her husband be obliged, based on Art. 125 of the Swiss Civil Code (CC), to continue to pay maintenance contributions up to a total amount of CHF 40,531.55 as of October 2013, insofar as she is required to repay the social assistance debts of CHF 81,063.10 or repays them voluntarily. The Presidency of the District Court of Bremgarten and the High Court of the Canton of Aargau dismissed this request. The wife appealed against the High Court's judgment.Considerations
According to the case law of the Federal Supreme Court, in determining maintenance contributions, the subsistence minimum of the person obliged to pay must be left in any case. The consequence of this case law is that the party entitled to maintenance must bear the shortfall resulting from the difference between the available funds and the total maintenance requirement. If he or she has to resort to social assistance for this purpose, debts towards the social welfare authorities or the community arise, which are in any case personal if they were incurred after the separation.
The Federal…