Facts
The Federal Court had to decide on an appeal in the context of a divorce proceeding. The parties, [A.] and [B.] , had been together since 1982 and had three children. They married in 1988 and were divorced in 1999. In the context of the divorce proceedings, the marriage was dissolved and parental authority over the children was awarded to the mother. The father was obliged to pay maintenance contributions. The spouses declared themselves to be separated in terms of property law and waived mutual maintenance claims. The husband applied for the transfer of half of the exit benefit of the wife's occupational pension scheme, which was however rejected.
The High Court of the Canton of Zurich reduced the child maintenance contributions and rejected the husband's application for the transfer of half of the exit benefit of the wife's occupational pension scheme. The husband appealed and applied for the reversal of the High Court's judgment and the instruction of the wife's pension insurance to transfer half of the exit benefit from her pension entitlement acquired during the marriage to him.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined the admissibility of the appeal and found that it was a civil law dispute with a financial value. The subject of the dispute does not consist of a precisely specified amount, which is why the amount in dispute must be specified. The Federal Court found, however, that neither the contested judgment nor the appeal brief meets the statutory requirements for specifying the amount in dispute.
The Federal Court decided that, based on the factual findings in the contested judgment and the cantonal files, it is not possible…