Facts
V., born in 1957, had married R. on February 28, 1985. Two children, J. (born 1985) and M. (born 1987), were born from this marriage. By judgment of the District Court X dated January 11, 1990, the marriage was dissolved, with the two children placed under the parental authority of the mother. Pursuant to the court-approved agreement of November 22, 1989, on the consequences of the divorce, V. was obliged to pay monthly indexed maintenance contributions of CHF 400.-- each for the support of his two children until they reached the age of 10.
By order dated March 13, 1990, the Compensation Fund informed V. that he could no longer be granted a supplementary pension from February 1990 onwards, as his divorced wife was not predominantly providing for the children awarded to her. V. then filed a complaint with the Insurance Court of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft.
Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court had to examine whether V. was entitled to a supplementary pension for his divorced wife for the period from February 1, 1990 to May 31, 1991. This depends on whether the wife predominantly provided for the children awarded to her during the period in question.
The court concluded that the divorced wife of V. had predominantly provided for the children awarded to her during the disputed period. Although the court had previously reduced the maintenance requirements for children determined by Winzeler in cooperation with the Youth Welfare Office of the Canton of Zurich by one quarter, in view of more recent studies showing a…