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Whatever its form: For most people, the family is one of the most important things in life. In order to continue to enjoy a good family life over the long term, it’s important to deal with issues that could tarnish the family’s happiness.
Whether it’s a separation, pension gaps, or strokes of fate such as accidents, illness, or death – no family is immune to this, but everyone can protect themselves against potential risks by planning ahead.
Nowadays, family are made up in different ways. Married with children, unmarried parents, divorced and a single parent, same-sex parents with children or in blended families, the makeup of a family has changed dramatically with the social changes of recent decades. Even if most families are still structured in a traditional way – married parents and their biological children – every fifth Swiss child is now growing up in a family with unmarried parents or another non-traditional partnership. And looking to the future, alternative forms such as families with a single parent, blended and LGBTQ+ parented families will increase further.
Even the traditional family has to take a lot of issues into account when planning its old age and risk protection. However, this structure is relatively well protected under the law because the partners are married, which makes it all the more urgent to address the question of how to comprehensively protect family members when the parents are not married against possible risks such as loss of earnings and the death of the principal earner.
In spite of social changes and the associated opportunities, the traditional family form is still a widespread way of life in Switzerland. This refers to a married couple with joint children. In this type of family, the father is the principal wage earner, while the mother is generally the unpaid carer of the child(ren) and the household without social insurance. In many regions, there is also a modernized version of the family structure in which the mother works part-time in addition to caring for the children.
Of the possible family structures, the married with child(ren) structure has the greatest protection under social insurance law n Switzerland. All personal and property relationships of the married partners are regulated by law. As an example, the parents are automatically granted shared custody from the birth of a child. They also provide for old age as a community and have a mutual obligation to provide assistance and a mutual inheritance entitlement and – in the event of an accident or illness – the right to medical information.
In the traditional family model, risks often arise from an imbalance between the principal and supplementary earners.
Anyone seeking comprehensive protection for their family against risks is well-advised to take these precautionary measures.
More and more couples are opting for cohabitation, which, although it outwardly appears similar to marriage, can be dissolved informally at any time. In addition to tax and cost advantages, most couples see the lack of legal obligations as the biggest advantage over marriage. This means greater freedom in everyday life, but also less security for the partners and their children in an emergency. Binding regulations are therefore advantageous at the latest if you want to start a family in an unmarried life partnership.
For unmarried couples living together, there are no binding rules. All obligations between the life partners have to be drawn up independently and written down in a cohabitation agreement. Hence, the father, for example, is not automatically related to the child from birth – the legal parent-child relationship initially only applies to the mother. In order for the father to be recognized as the biological father of the child, paternity must first be officially acknowledged or established by a decree if the father refuses to acknowledge the child.
The freedom of living together without a marriage certificate often becomes a disadvantage in an emergency. Many couples live in a de facto marriage, but lack equal protection on separation or death. Inheritance and pension planning require particular attention.
A parent who is separated, divorced or widowed and has been alone with a biological/adopted/foster child or stepchild since birth: Single-parent families come about in various ways.
If the second parent is not deceased and does not pose a risk to the child, the parents continue to share parental responsibility. In most cases, one of the parents – usually the mother - has sole custody of the child and assumes all the tasks associated with its upbringing: earning money, running the household, childcare.
Raising children alone is not easy. And it’s even harder to be well insured and save for old age – especially on the tight budget usually at the disposal of a single-parent family. Single parents are therefore often affected by pension gaps.
Blended families are often characterized by the complexity of their biological and personal relationships. Whether through separation, divorce or the death of a parent, at least one partner brings one or more children from a previous relationship into the new marriage or partnership. The birth of new, joint children can lead to the addition of further half-sibling relationships to this family structure.
As the name suggests: One blended family rarely resembles another. Each has its own history with, in most cases, a correspondingly complex legal situation. On the one hand, because children in a blended family usually have a mixture of biological and non-biological parents and siblings. But also because the parents may already have a family history involving such obligations.
A stroke of fate can have serious consequences, especially if the life partners in a blended family are not married. Legal succession is based on the classic family with the result that non-biological children and life partners are left empty-handed following the death of a parent.
A LGBTQ+-parent family is a family in which at least one parent identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* or queer. Some intersex parents also belong to the LGBTQ+-parent families.
Children in these families come into their family in different ways: They may come from previous heterosexual relationships, be born into a same-sex partnership, be adopted or be fostered. Some families are founded abroad through surrogacy or egg donation. In the case of trans* parents, the coming-out may have taken place before or after starting a family.
In recent years, Switzerland has taken important steps to provide legal protection for LGBTQ+-parent families. In 2018, stepchild adoption became possible for same-sex couples, and since July 2022, marriage has been open to all couples. This means that same-sex couples now have full adoption rights and can adopt a child together – a step previously only possible through the stepchild adoption of the partner’s biological child. Lesbian couples now also have access to artificial insemination in Swiss sperm banks, which was previously only allowed for heterosexual couples.
These legislative changes strengthen the legal protection of LGBTQ+-parent families. Same-sex parents now have full parental rights and thus equal rights in areas such as inheritance and custody. In many cases, the stepchild adoption, which was often necessary in the past, is no longer necessary because both partners can be recognized as equal parents – regardless of whether they are married or living in a life partnership.
Inheritance law and social insurance are geared towards the traditional family. Only registered or married partners, biological children and adopted children are legally entitled to an inheritance and a survivor’s pension from OASI, mandatory accident insurance and the pension fund of the deceased.
If you die, your spouse receives benefits from Pillars 1 and 2. However, this is often less than the actual income requirement – especially if you have joint financial obligations. You can fill this pension gap using preventive measures such as taking out life insurance or whole life insurance.
Unmarried couples have no mutual legal inheritance entitlement if a partner dies. Individual pension solutions such as a cohabitation agreement or a will ensure that the life partner can inherit. In addition, it is advisable that the life partner informs their own pension fund and benefits their partner with their retirement savings under Pillars 3a and 3b.
If the children are still minors or still in education, the OASI pays an orphan’s pension if you die. In addition, in a legally valid will, you can distribute your estate and stipulate the guardianship rules in line with your wishes. A rule on how the inherited assets are to be managed should also be included in a will.
The purpose of Pillar 1 is to secure livelihoods after retirement, in the event of disability and incapacity to work, or after a death.
Pillar 2 includes occupational pensions, occupational accident insurance, daily sickness benefits insurance and the vested benefits institutions. It’s intended to enable people to maintain the standard of living they’re accustomed to after retirement.
By making voluntary payments into pension provision with withdrawal and contribution restrictions (Pillar 3a) or flexible pension provision (Pillar 3b), you can close income gaps from Pillar 1 and 2 of the Swiss social system to the fullest extent possible.
Do you have any questions, or would you like a no-obligation pension consultation? Our experts are happy to help you.
