Garnishment of the earned income of a debtor who receives an unpayable pension

Facts

In this case, it was about a wage garnishment initiated by M. X. against her former husband, H. X., for overdue maintenance payments. The debtor H. X. received an unpayable pension in addition to his earned income. The Debt Collection Office Zurich 11 had also taken into account the unpayable sickness allowance that the debtor received when calculating the garnishable income.

H. X. appealed against this decision and claimed that his unpayable sickness allowance should not be taken into account in determining the garnishable portion of his income. He also demanded that his actual rental costs of CHF 600.- per month be taken into account in the calculation of the minimum subsistence level.

Considerations

The Federal Court dismissed the appeal regarding the consideration of the sickness allowance. It stated that the earned income of a debtor who receives an unpayable pension may be garnished to the extent that it exceeds the part of the minimum subsistence level not covered by the pension. The unpayability of the pension means only that the pension itself may not be garnished, but not that the debtor could also claim a part of his other income corresponding to his minimum subsistence level.

With regard to the housing costs, the Federal Court confirmed the decision of the lower court, according to which the actual housing costs of CHF 600.- do not have to be taken into account in determining the minimum subsistence level, but rather the customary…