Facts
A. T., born on September 20, 1952, and L.-M. D., born on December 17, 1949, were married in Bernex (GE) on June 20, 1975, under the regime of separation of property. Two children were born of their union: S., born on July 7, 1975, and R., born on May 4, 1977. Difficulties having arisen between the spouses, the wife definitively left the marital home in March 1991.
Seized of a divorce action by L.-M. T. and a counterclaim by A. T., the Court of First Instance of Geneva, by judgment of October 11, 1993, pronounced the divorce of the spouses and dismissed the plaintiff's request for the payment of a sum of 72,000 fr. as an extraordinary contribution in her spouse's business, within the meaning of Art. 165 CC.
Ruling on April 22, 1994 on the appeal of each of the parties, the Court of Justice of the Canton of Geneva annulled the said judgment and ordered the husband to pay the requested indemnity to his wife. This court, however, suppressed the annuity awarded to her at first instance.
The Federal Tribunal dismissed, to the extent that they were admissible, the public law appeal of the plaintiff and the joint appeal of the defendant filed against this decision.
Considerations
According to case law, by virtue of their general duty of assistance, husband and wife contribute according to their means to the maintenance of the family. Their contribution may consist in the help that one spouse provides to the other in his or her profession or business. Exercised in this framework, the help provided to one of the spouses does not entitle to any remuneration, subject to the possible right to a free amount at disposal within the meaning of Art. 164 CC.
However, as soon as, in the absence of any employment contract, the help provided by one of the spouses in the business of the other exceeds what the general duty of assistance normally allows to be required of him, equity demands that this increased…