Facing a divorce in Switzerland? Here's what matters now

Whether the decision was yours or it pulled the rug out from under you – a divorce changes everything. Emotionally, logistically, and above all, financially. Especially in Switzerland, there are many rules around division of assets, pension funds, alimony, and taxes that you should be aware of to avoid costly mistakes.

In this article, you'll learn what you need to know — and do — in the event of a divorce in Switzerland: from the legal process to financial restructuring after separation.

What does a divorce mean legally in Switzerland?

Before diving into the consequences of a divorce, let’s clarify three core principles that play a key role in the process:

Principle 1: Marriage law

As you probably know, entering into marriage means entering into a contract — even if you haven’t signed a separate prenuptial agreement with your partner. Swiss law outlines clear rules regarding the division of assets, rights and obligations, retirement benefits, inheritance, and divorce.

The legal framework is based on the principle of equality: among other things, both spouses agree to contribute to the family’s financial support and to share responsibility for the children.

Principle 2: Matrimonial property regime

In Switzerland, if you marry without a prenuptial agreement, the default property regime is participation in acquired property. This regime distinguishes between:

• Personal property: everything you owned before the marriage — such as your investment portfolio, as well as any inheritance or gifts received during the marriage.
  
  
• Acquired property: everything accumulated during the marriage — including your income, pension savings, and even dividends.

What happens to your assets in a divorce in Switzerland?

In a divorce, your personal property (Eigengut) remains yours — meaning you keep everything you owned before the marriage, as well as gifts and inheritances.

However, the joint marital property (Errungenschaft) is split between both parties, regardless of who contributed more to building that wealth.

For example, if you earned significantly more and paid higher contributions into your pension fund, you’ll have to transfer 50% of that pension fund balance to your spouse — or it will be offset against their own balance.

If you do not want to use the default marital property system or want to exclude certain assets (e.g. your company), you’ll need a marriage contract.

What happens to the marital home in a divorce?

The marital home (also known as the family home) — the place where you live, sleep, eat, and spend time together — plays an important role during divorce proceedings. This applies even if the home is rented, not owned.

When divorcing, it must be decided who stays in the home.

There are two options:

1. You come to a mutual agreement without involving the court.
   
2. If you can’t agree, a court decides who stays in the home.
   
   

The court will consider:

• Who depends most on staying in the home — e.g. if one of you works there or the children live there.
  
• If that’s unclear, who could more easily relocate (e.g. based on age or health).
  
• Financial ability: if one partner cannot afford to live in the home at all, this may influence the decision.
  
• If none of the above helps, ownership or lease rights will determine who stays.
  
  

⚠️ Important: If you’re unsure or feel that your spouse is treating you unfairly during the divorce process, seek professional legal support. You can search for a family law attorney in Switzerland here.

Alternatively, there are also various services available for separation and divorce counselling.

The divorce process in Switzerland

Step 1: Prepare financially for the divorce

Beyond the emotional toll and the final decision (“We’re getting divorced”), financial preparation is a key part of the divorce process. Divorce in Switzerland can be expensive — costs can reach up to CHF 10,000, mainly due to court and lawyer fees.

If these costs are a challenge, you can ask for state support or discuss installment payment options with your lawyer.

Step 2: Draft your divorce agreement

The divorce agreement outlines all the consequences of your separation: property division, retirement savings split, child custody, who keeps the home, spousal support, and more.

Step 3: File the divorce petition

To initiate the divorce, you must jointly file the divorce petition at the court responsible for your jurisdiction.
You don’t need to provide a reason for the divorce. Your divorce agreement is submitted along with the petition.

Step 4: The court reviews the divorce agreement

The court will review your documents, may ask for additional evidence, and will ensure the agreement is fair and balanced.

If the agreement is considered too one-sided (e.g. you give up all pension entitlements you earned during the marriage), the court may reject it.

The court will also define:

• Division of assets (including pension and property)
• Spousal support
• Child support

If you have children:

• Parental custody (usually shared)
• Living arrangements (shared or sole residence)
• Visitation rights (if not sharing custody)

Step 5: Final court decision

Your divorce becomes legally binding with the final court decision.

If both parties agree, the process may be completed in just a few months.
In cases of dispute, it can take significantly longer.

What if your partner doesn’t want a divorce?

In Switzerland, you can get divorced even if your spouse doesn’t agree — but you must live apart for two years first.

In serious cases (e.g. domestic violence), this waiting period can be shortened by the court.

Useful support services in Switzerland:

• Frauenzentrale Zurich – Legal counseling (in German)
• GetYourLawyer – Divorce law
• Family law attorney search (in German)
• Online divorce in Switzerland

Helpful documents to bring to a legal consultation:

• Income overview for both partners (e.g. salary statements)
• Asset overview, including personal and joint property (ideally with an inventory)
• AHV contribution statements for both partners
• Pension fund (PK) statements for both partners

What’s important after the divorce?

Apply for AHV splitting

Once the divorce is finalized, submit a request for AHV (state pension) splitting. This ensures that the income earned during the marriage is equally divided between both individual AHV accounts.

Example: If person A earned CHF 100,000 and person B didn’t work, each will receive CHF 50,000 credited to their AHV record.

From the moment of divorce, each person is responsible for paying their own minimum AHV contributions, unless they’re still employed.

If you don’t file for splitting yourself, the AHV office will automatically apply it once you reach retirement age.
But I highly recommend doing it right after your divorce to avoid delays in future pension payouts.

Split the pension fund (2nd pillar)

All pension contributions made during the marriage — including interest — are split equally.

Make sure the amount specified in the divorce ruling is transferred from one partner’s account to the other (or to a vested benefits account).

Coordinate the process directly with your pension fund and the court, if needed.

⚠️ You can waive the pension fund split!

You and your partner can agree not to split the pension fund assets, if both of you have already saved enough for retirement and are adequately covered in case of disability.

However, the court will always review whether the waiver of the split is fair. Even if both of you agree to skip the split, the court can still decide to enforce it — regardless of what you’ve agreed upon.

Splitting private retirement assets (Pillar 3a)

Pillar 3a counts as marital property. If you haven’t established a separation of property, the 3a funds accumulated during the marriage will also be split equally.

👉 Want to understand how the 3a pillar works and how it benefits your retirement? You can read more.

Dividing property (real estate)

If you and your spouse bought a house or apartment together and didn’t set up a marriage contract specifying what happens in case of divorce, there are usually three possible outcomes:

• You continue to hold the mortgage together even after the divorce and remain jointly liable.
  
• One of you takes over the mortgage — if the bank approves and the person is creditworthy. In that case, the other partner receives a payout.
  
• Without a marriage contract, participation in acquisitions applies automatically. This means the value of the property is split in half. The partner who keeps the property pays 50% of the market value to the other.
  
  

In the case of a community of property, which must be explicitly stated in a marriage contract, both partners must mutually agree who will keep the home — or sell the property and divide the proceeds.

With a separation of property, also defined by a marriage contract, the home typically belongs to just one partner, since there is no shared marital property. After the divorce, the home remains in their name — unless residential rights are granted for the benefit of shared children.

Selling the property and dissolving the mortgage
This is often the cleanest and easiest solution, since both partners receive 50% of the proceeds, unless stated otherwise in the marriage contract. You can include this preferred approach in your divorce agreement.

⚠️ Important: Real estate is just one example where a marriage contract can be extremely helpful. You can still create one after getting married or after buying property together.

Agreeing on child support (Alimente)

If you have children together, you must agree on child support payments (also known as Alimente).

These are calculated based on several factors:

• Income of both parents
  
• Who the child lives with / who has custody
  
• The child’s age
  
• The number of children
  
  

Child support consists of two components: financial support and care-related support.

• Financial support covers expenses like food, housing, insurance, etc.
  To calculate this, the Zurich Child Cost Table (as of 01.03.2025) is used.

Childcare support (Betreuungsunterhalt)

If, for example, you are a mother caring for your child and therefore cannot work full time, you are entitled to childcare support payments. In Switzerland, the rule is:

• After a child starts school, at least part-time work is expected
  
  
• After they move to secondary school, at least 80%
  
  
• From the age of 16, full-time employment is required.
  
  

The person paying the support (e.g. the father) can fully deduct these payments from their taxes.

In principle, child support payments end when the child turns 18. If the child has not completed initial vocational training or higher education by that point, payments continue until the end of the first education.

⚠️ Important: Time spent raising children or caring for relatives can also count towards your first pillar (AHV) contributions and help close any contribution gaps. In the case of a divorce, ensure that parenting credits are not split 50/50 if you were the primary caregiver and your spouse already qualifies for the maximum pension based on their income.

⚠️⚠️ Very important: Most women work part-time after marriage, especially after having children. After a divorce, they only receive child and caregiving support—but due to their reduced income, their pension contributions are lower than their husband’s. Single mothers are four times more likely to experience poverty in old age. That’s why it’s so crucial to take care of your own financial future after a divorce.

What you can do during marriage to protect yourself:

• Work at least 70% to avoid major pension gaps
  
• Both partners should fully use their 3a pillar contributions
  
• Discuss pension planning clearly during things like maternity leave — how will your partner provide fair financial compensation?
  
  

Spousal support (Ehegattenunterhalt)

The principle in Switzerland is financial independence after divorce. This is called the "clean break" rule—each partner is expected to support themselves after the separation.

However, in certain cases (e.g. traditional 30-year marriage, no education or work experience), the court may grant temporary spousal support. This is based on the couple’s standard of living before the divorce and is paid only for a limited time to allow the person to find work.

If spousal support is granted:

• It is tax-deductible for the person paying
  
• The recipient must declare it as taxable income
  
  

If large support payments are agreed upon, a life insurance policy on the paying partner’s life may be useful in case of death.

Separate insurance policies and accounts

Review all shared insurances and contracts. Cancel or split joint liability or household insurances into individual policies, since you no longer live together.

Update beneficiaries on your life insurance, 3a accounts, and wills.

Take out new policies (e.g. legal insurance) if previously covered under your spouse’s plan.

Joint bank accounts and credit cards should be closed or transferred to one name.

In the end, each ex-partner should only be responsible for their own expenses.

Tax matters

Inform the tax office about the separation. From the following tax year (or the date of separation, depending on the canton), you’ll be taxed individually, which can lower your burden.

If there are outstanding tax bills from the marriage, both partners remain jointly liable. Best practice: address this in the divorce agreement.

Quick recap:

• Child and spousal support can be deducted from taxes
  
• Received spousal support must be declared as income
  
  

Organising your finances after divorce

Divorce isn't just the end of a relationship—it's the beginning of a new chapter. That chapter starts with clarity—emotionally and financially.

Maybe you're moving to a more tax-friendly canton. Maybe you’re figuring out how to manage your living expenses on a single income. Or maybe you need to rebuild your career after years of caregiving.

Whatever stage you’re in—whether you're already divorced or still in the process—now is the time to restructure your finances. So you can stay independent and build a solid financial foundation for today and for your retirement.

Within my Fly Free Programme, I guide you through this exact process:

• Optimising your budget
  
• Identifying and closing pension gaps
  
• Building long-term wealth
  

Get more information on the programme here!

Separation vs. divorce

People often use "separation" and "divorce" interchangeably, but legally they are very different.

• Separation means you live apart but remain married. No court involvement is needed.
  
• Divorce dissolves the marriage legally, with court involvement and formal agreements.
  
  

Coming up next: A side-by-side comparison table of separation and divorce. 

Concubinage

Even if you're not married and living together in a cohabiting partnership, it’s absolutely essential to think about how you're protected - both legally and financially. Because here's the deal: if you split up and don't have a cohabitation agreement in place, you basically have zero legal protection. Zero. Nada.

Without a written concubinage agreement, your rights are limited. The only exception? If you have children together, some claims might be possible. And when it comes to inheritance, things get even trickier: without a will or inheritance contract, your partner gets nothing. Yup, nothing.

Final thoughts on divorce in Switzerland

Divorce is never easy - emotionally or financially. But it can also be a fresh start. It’s a powerful chance to reorganize your life and take charge of your finances.

When you get clear on things like alimony, property division, pension fund assets, and your personal financial situation, you’re laying the foundation for real independence.