Facts
In this case, the dispute over the marital property between the spouses Z. and Z.-S. in the context of divorce proceedings was at issue. The District Court See had initially dismissed the divorce petition filed by Z. against Z.-S. In the appeal proceedings before the Cantonal Court of St. Gallen, the parties reached an agreement on post-marital maintenance, but could not agree on the dispute over the marital property.
Z. requested that his assets did not constitute marital property and that Z.-S. therefore had no claims against him under the law of marital property. Z.-S., on the other hand, demanded compensation for her claims under the law of marital property in the amount of 300,000 Swiss francs. The Cantonal Court of St. Gallen recognized the parties as having settled their marital property.
Z.-S. subsequently appealed to the Federal Supreme Court and requested that the judgment of the Cantonal Court be set aside and the matter be remanded to the lower instance for a new assessment of her claims under the law of marital property.
Considerations
In its reasoning, the Federal Supreme Court stated that in the dissolution of the marital property regime in the context of a divorce, the assets of the spouses are to be determined as of the date of filing the divorce petition. However, for the valuation of the assets and liabilities, the time of the dispute over the marital property, i.e., the date of the judgment, is decisive.
Furthermore, the Federal Supreme Court clarified that a commercial enterprise or business operation must be valued as…