Facts
The appellant [A.A.] filed an ungrounded divorce complaint against his wife [B.A.] on 16 September 2015 and simultaneously applied for free legal aid and representation. The Cantonal Court of the Canton of Nidwalden dismissed the application for free legal aid, as the appellant had not sufficiently proven his neediness. The appellant lodged a complaint with the Higher Court of the Canton of Nidwalden, which dismissed the complaint. The appellant then turned to the Federal Court.
The appellant and his wife had fully agreed on the divorce proceedings. The Cantonal Court divorced the couple and approved the agreement on divorce ancillaries concluded by the spouses. The court costs of CHF 5,677.50 were imposed on the parties in equal shares.
Considerations
The Federal Court examined whether the appellant had demonstrated his neediness in the first-instance divorce proceedings. The lower court had established that the appellant was not in a position to finance the divorce proceedings with his income from employment, but that he had made applications regarding property law that suggested that an additional burden on the marital property was not excluded.
The Federal Court found that the appellant had to make the necessary investigations and document that the bank had…