## Facts

- A husband (born 1935) and wife (born 1936) married in Quebec, Canada, in 1960.
- The spouses were naturalized as United States citizens in 1962.
- Between 1960 and 1976, the couple moved repeatedly across multiple countries; the husband served in the military and later worked abroad for a U.S. company.
- In 1979, they settled in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, and lived there continuously until 1984.
- In 1984, during a marital crisis, the wife left Switzerland to stay abroad; the husband remained in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
- In July 1986, the husband filed for divorce in the competent matrimonial court in the district of La Chaux-de-Fonds.
- The wife opposed divorce but sought monthly support if divorce were granted.
- The trial court granted the divorce and ordered the husband to pay indexed spousal support of CHF 1,500 per month under Swiss law; the cantonal appellate court affirmed.
- The husband filed a reform appeal to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, primarily disputing the applicable law and arguing for application of Texas law.

## Issues

1. In a divorce between spouses sharing a common foreign nationality (U.S.), with only the husband domiciled in Switzerland, whether Swiss courts should apply the spouses’ common foreign law or Swiss law under the Swiss Private International Law Act.
2. When the statutory exception clause permits displacement of the law designated by conflict rules because the case is only loosely connected to that law and much more closely connected to another law.
3. If Swiss law applies, whether affirming the divorce decree and spousal support award is permissible under Swiss substantive law.

## Decision

- The Swiss Federal Supreme Court rejected the husband’s reform appeal and affirmed the cantonal judgment.
- The Court held that Swiss law governed the divorce and its economic consequences.
- The Court applied the statutory exception clause to displace the spouses’ common foreign law, concluding the case had only a very weak connection to that law and a much closer connection to Switzerland.
- The Court left in place the divorce decree and the indexed spousal support award of CHF 1,500 per month.

## Legal Principles

- Divorce and legal separation are governed by Swiss law under the governing conflict rule of the Swiss Private International Law Act, subject to limited statutory exceptions.
- The exception clause is strict and applies only in exceptional necessity; it is not a general instrument allowing courts to bypass the designated law based on preference or convenience.
- The exception clause applies only where, considering all circumstances, the dispute has a very loose connection to the designated law and a much closer connection to another law.
- In assessing connections, courts weigh the factual center of the spouses’ married life at the time relevant to the dispute, including stable residence, domicile, and the current locus of marital ties.
- Where Swiss law properly applies, Swiss courts may order post-divorce support under Swiss substantive provisions, and such orders will be upheld absent legal error.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed application of Swiss divorce law, holding that the statutory escape clause may displace spouses’ common foreign law only under a demanding test satisfied here because the marital relationship and the dispute were far more closely tied to Switzerland than to Texas or other U.S. law.


W. v. W., 118 B.G.E. II 79 (Switz. Jan. 27, 1992)