Child Support Termination Age of Majority Transitional Provisions Self-Sufficiency Review

The appeal concerned a father who ceased child support payments after the child reached the age of 18 and completed vocational training, despite a prior court order establishing support obligations before the law lowered the age of majority. The commission confirmed prior jurisprudence holding that the judge granting definitive enforcement (Rechtsöffnungsrichter) is competent to review the substantive requirements of the provision allowing a parent to cease support if the child can reasonably support themselves (Art. 276 Abs. 3 ZGB), but this review is limited to documentary evidence regarding the child's ability to meet their own needs post-majority age. Furthermore, applying the transitional provision (Art. 13c SchlT ZGB), the court reasoned that since the support obligation was established under the old law setting the age of majority at 20, the obligation presumptively continued until the child turned 20, unless the paying parent had successfully sought an alteration based on the child's ability to be self-sufficient, which was not proven here.