Attachment of an asset financed by the husband's separate property and calculation of the variable compensation in favor of the acquests

Facts

X., born in 1943, and Mrs. X., born in 1948, were married in 1969. In 1980, the husband purchased a plot of land that he paid for using an advancement of inheritance. The spouses then built a villa on this land, financed by the husband's savings and a mortgage loan. At the time of the divorce in 2002, the husband concluded that an amount of 76,503 CHF should be paid to the wife as liquidation of the matrimonial regime, while the wife concluded that the husband should pay maintenance contributions, fair compensation, and an amount of 157,692 CHF as liquidation of the matrimonial regime.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal considered that the land, although built with the husband's acquests, should be attached to the husband's separate property, in accordance with the case law. As the husband's acquests contributed to the improvement and preservation of the property, they are entitled to a variable compensation under Art. 209 para. 3 CC. The increase in value of the property must be proportionally distributed between the husband's…