In the context of post-marital maintenance, it must be legally specified which benefits can be subsumed under the term maintenance payments. The question of whether and to what extent the use of a joint bank account into which one spouse deposits his or her wages and from which the other spouse withdraws funds is to be qualified as maintenance is particularly problematic. The free transfer of a property or apartment can also be interpreted as a maintenance payment. It is advisable to clarify these questions immediately in the competent canton of residence. It is strongly recommended that joint bank accounts be closed quickly in order to avoid discrepancies in the separate spouses’ statements of assets. It is also advisable to meticulously document all money transfers via joint accounts or between the spouses from the time of separation. These records should be made available to the tax authorities to ensure that maintenance payments are correctly recorded and valued for tax purposes
