Answers to the most common questions about Onus Curae, the calculation and how to use the program. For help on individual fields, each tab of the program has its own guide.
It is a web platform that calculates child maintenance under Swiss law (art. 276 et seq. CC) and shows, item by item, where each amount comes from. It is meant for lawyers and advisers who handle separations and divorces, for parents who want to understand or prepare an agreement and, more generally, for anyone who needs to check a calculation.
On the two-stage concrete method set by the Federal Supreme Court (BGE 147 III 265). First, everyone's needs are covered: the subsistence minimum under debt-enforcement law and, if the means allow, the extended family-law subsistence minimum. What remains, the surplus, is then usually shared out by "large and small heads": two shares for each adult, one share for each minor child.
The order follows BGE 147 III 265 consid. 7.3: cash maintenance of minor children, care maintenance, spousal maintenance, adult children in education and, only at the end, the surplus.
No. Onus Curae prepares a documented, verifiable basis for the calculation. Maintenance is set by the parties in an agreement, which must be approved by the child protection authority or by the court, or else the court decides (art. 287 CC). The result is a guide; legal choices remain with the lawyer.
Onus Curae is a project of WSC Olimpo SA, Chiasso. It was built on the experience of AGNA – Associazione Genitori nell'Accudimento in the legal and psychosocial support of families going through separation and divorce. Contact details are on the Contact page.
Italian, German, French and English. Each user chooses the language of the program; PDF documents are generated in the language chosen at the time, regardless of the working language.
Yes. When registering, choose the "Family" profile: one parent creates the account, invites the other parent, and both work on the same cases with a shared credit balance. The program calculates and explains, but it does not replace advice: for an agreement to be submitted to an authority, professional support is recommended.
You can also start on your own and later invite a lawyer to the case: in the case's Members section, choose the role "Lawyer / Operator / Mediator"; the lawyer receives a link and works on the case with full access. Once the case is unlocked and the lawyer has accepted the invitation, the family and the lawyer each receive a credit equal to half the unlock price.
You can also be invited by a law firm or adviser: you then receive a personal link and enter only your own data.
When parents are invited by a law firm, each one enters and sees only their own part: income, expenses, supporting documents and the custody plan they propose. Checking the data, the agreed schedule and the choice of method remain with the law firm. With the "Family" profile, on the other hand, both parents work together on the same case and see the same data.
Supporting documents can be uploaded directly in the case, next to the data they refer to.
Because custody determines both how costs are shared and how much work can reasonably be expected of each parent. The plan describes a typical week of 7 days in 9 time slots, from 6:00 to 20:17, for school and holiday weeks, even and odd: 100 hours a week, so each hour counts for 1 %. By recording who is present in each slot (a parent, school or daycare, paid or unpaid third parties), custody shares become verifiable instead of estimated.
Care maintenance (art. 285 para. 2 CC; BGE 144 III 377) covers the needs of the parent who looks after the children, to the extent that childcare prevents them from covering those needs with their own income. It has a base part, which comes right after the children's cash maintenance, and a dynamic part, owed only if the paying parent still has capacity.
The care balancing payment, by contrast, offsets the difference between custody shares: it is granted to the parent who looks after the children more and is paid by the other.
The paying parent always keeps their own subsistence minimum. If what remains is not enough, minor children are covered first (art. 276a CC) and the uncovered part is shown as a shortfall for each child. This amount must be stated in the agreement or decision (art. 287a(c) CC): if the paying parent's situation later improves exceptionally, the child can claim the missing amounts for the last five years (art. 286a CC).
Children aged 18 to 25 who are still in education are calculated separately (art. 277 para. 2 CC), after minor children and spousal maintenance. The contribution is owed to the child; the result shows it in a separate section, with each parent's share and the costs they already bear directly.
No, they are part of it: family allowances and child pensions are meant for the children and reduce their needs (art. 285a CC). The result shows who receives them: if the paying parent receives them, they are already included in the amount to be paid; if the receiving parent does, the result also shows the total available for the children.
When circumstances change significantly and lastingly: starting school, a new job or a different work percentage, moving house, new children, a child coming of age (art. 286 para. 2 CC). In the program you create a new phase with a new reference date: it takes over the data of the previous phase and you change only what has changed, at no extra cost.
Yes, in the PRO tab, which is reserved for professionals. For each choice the program shows the reference value and its source; to depart from it, you pick a reason from a catalogue with its legal basis and write the justification for the specific case. Before saving, you see by how many francs the maintenance changes. Every choice is kept in a history that cannot be altered and appears in the case dossier, with a comparison between the standard result and the result with the choices.
Usually by "large and small heads": two shares for each adult, one share for each minor child (BGE 147 III 265; BGE 149 III 441). In the PRO tab you can apply the deviations allowed by case law, with a justification: for example limiting the children's share when incomes are very high, or deducting a proven savings rate.
Actual income stays in the parent's data. Hypothetical income is entered separately in the PRO tab, with a justification (BGE 144 III 481; BGE 147 III 308): the result and the PDFs state clearly that a hypothetical income was used in the calculation, and which one.
For married parents the program shows an estimate of spousal maintenance (art. 125 and 176 CC), with half each as the reference. It is a guide only and does not change the children's maintenance. In the PRO tab it can be excluded, capped at a maximum amount or fixed, for example at the standard of living before separation. Duration and conditions must be assessed case by case.
While the phase is open, the PDFs are drafts. Once the phase is closed they become certified: the version is saved with a QR code and a SHA-256 fingerprint that let anyone check that the document has not been altered. The content complies with art. 287a CC: income and assets taken into account, amount for each child, any shortfall.
Yes. Colleagues in the law firm and, if needed, a second law firm can work on the same case, each with their own role and permissions. Invited parents see only their own part.
Creating a case, entering the data and preparing the calculation is free. You pay when unlocking the result: currently CHF 250 per case*. Unlocking makes the result, the documents and new phases available; subsequent phases are currently included in the price*.
* Non-binding information, valid as of the publication date of this page. Prices and conditions, including those for subsequent phases, may change over time: the price shown in the program at the time of payment applies.
With a prepaid credit balance, personal or belonging to the law firm (with the "Family" profile, shared by both parents), topped up by card from the Wallet page. The unlock is charged to this balance.
On servers located in Switzerland, in highly controlled and secure facilities, in compliance with the revised Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP). Uploaded documents and backups also stay in Switzerland; no external cloud services are used.
Only the people who are part of the case, each according to their role: the law firm or parent who created the case, colleagues and any other law firms added, and invited parents for their own part. Changes and choices of method are kept in a log that cannot be altered or deleted.
You have the right to access, rectify, delete and port your data. To exercise these rights, write to info@olimpo.ch. Details are in the privacy policy.
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