I am Dutch on a B permit and my girlfriend is moving to Switzerland from the UK to give birth and our plan is that we stay here together for some time.

Stupid question perhaps but does it make sense financially (in terms of lower taxes and other things that are deducted from my salary) for us to get married? My girlfriend will certainly be unemployed for 1-2 years as her wish is to take care of our baby during that time.

thank you

If only one of you works, you will definitely pay much less taxes if married.

Tom

As I mentioned on the other thread. There could be a problem with the baby's name. I don't think the baby can take the father's name if the couple are not married. If that's something that is important to you.

ETA: As per your other thread, it's seems you have an out on this issue. But, again, something to look into.

Do you want to get married?

You should never get married based on financial reasons

You should get married based on your heart, not your head.

ie: the traditional reasons of love, having found your soulmate, wanting to be together forever, etc

Fantastic idea, absolute right reason for getting married....you'll save some money on taxes (by the way, you need to either earn money or have a fortune to pay taxes).

Please remember to at least save what you don't pay in taxes, double, it, add 50% to pay the lawyer for the eventual divorce (your savings should pay for the first meeting with lawyer - but no more than 30 minutes meeting)

I'm not sure, if your girlfriend is coming here to have a baby, what kind of permit will she have to stay here more than a tourist visa? She's coming here with no work in mind either? So who has the insurance for the baby? You might want to tell us more. Good luck

Do you have any clue on how much less tax would be? Just roughly? As single I am currently paying 18.18 % on a salary of 130k. Are talking like going down to like 12-13 %? If so, that is huge.

That is what I would tell my girlfriend :-). Seriously though we are thinking about getting married anyway so if that cuts some bureaucracy and allow us to buy high quality diapers, then we may speed up the process.

Hi Sliced

She is giving birth and then start looking for jobs. I assume she won't need a Visa or permit to stay in Switzerland as a EU citizen?

Your partner is "coming to Switzerland to give birth"?
Does that mean that without being yet resident she has a doc and health insurance for herself and the baby?
Might knock her back about 10 grand if not! And you are worried about the price of nappies?
A UK birth might be cheaper and easier to arrange!
Getting married, tax rates and bringing babies into the world are all separate issues for most people. Sometimes one follows the other...though the order may vary greatly! Wouldn't be inclined to let one influence the other though!

Keep in mind I have no personal attachment to you or your girlfriend, I don't know what type of people you are. That's why I'm going to tell you some things you need to hear instead of things you want to hear. Since you're curious about the financial aspects of marriage, that is what I will focus on.

Your first (potential) mistake is getting your girlfriend pregnant. I say this because I don't know under what circumstances she got pregnant. Forget the moral arguments; Even if both of you took every precaution to prevent pregnancy, the woman has the sole legal right to decide whether the two of you want to keep the baby. The man has no right whatsoever, no matter how much we treat men & women as equals. The laws regarding your obligations of supporting a child can greatly affect your future. In your posts you showed no objections to having the child; This might be your genuine desire for being a father, or maybe it is your acceptance of reality that you have no real say in the decision. I hope it is the former.

The first thing you should do is read the default marriage contract for the country you are going to be married in, especially provisions which deal specifically with children & divorce. I recommend consulting an attorney who specializes in this type of law. You need to know your rights & obligations in case of a divorce, especially if you have children in the relationship. I can only speak for California because I am familiar with the laws here, however, I suspect most developed liberal democracies have similar marriage laws.

In California the woman can leave you for any reason, even if she was the one being unfaithful to you (over 70% of divorces in California are instigated by women). If she ends up being vindictive towards you for any reason, all she has to do is tell the court you were abusive, violent, or irresponsible, regardless of it being true or false. In the absence of facts, the courts will usually take the word of the mother as fact, so there is a good chance the man will lose custody of children even if he is a responsible citizen. You will be obligated to pay child support every single month for the first 18 years of a child's life (its not cheap). Further, the woman is not required to prove to the court or to any authority how she spends the child support money (aka YOUR money). I have heard of many instances where women spend child support money on purses, vacations with boyfriends, and even drugs, at the expense of the child's future. Also keep in mind that most marriage contracts by default split the assets of both parties equally in case of divorce. This means if she owns nothing and you own a home, you are required to sell your home and give her half the value of it. She takes half your assets (bank accounts, furniture, businesses, etc) and on top of that you are still obligated to pay her alimony & child support every month.

Since most default marriage contracts put men at a disadvantage, I suggest looking into a prenuptial agreement. In it, you can decide before the marriage exactly what each of your rights & obligations will be in the event of divorce. For example you can decide that in case of divorce, each of you keep your personal assets. Or you can decide she will receive a fixed amount, or she will receive a fixed percentage of your income. I know this is not romantic - However, legal marriage is nothing more than a business contract between two people, and this contract can end up costing you a LOT more than the short-term tax benefits if you don't understand all the provisions. That's why I highly recommend consulting an attorney who specializes in these matters, specifically in the country you will be married in.

I know what you're thinking - You cannot imagine ever being divorced with this woman. You might be right, I hope you're right, your girlfriend may be an honest & caring woman (there are still a good number of them in existence). I hope for yours and your child's sake you are both honest & faithful both now & in the future. If this is the case, you have nothing to worry about. However, virtually nobody expects to get divorced at the time of marriage, yet the divorce rate in the developed world hovers around 50%. All I'm saying is you need to prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario and be aware of your rights & obligations in such a situation for the benefit of yourself, your spouse, and most importantly your child.

Yes she most certainly will need a visa! In this case you need to apply for a dependant visa for her...

Thanks, I wasn't aware of this at all. Is the family reunion/dependent visa a standard procedure, ie more or less a formality if you are married and both are EU citizens or could there be some problems?

There are gays and lesbians in countless countries around the globe who would give their left arm and any spare organ just for the right to marry the person they love.

And you're asking if it makes sense financially?

If that's your only motivation, then... NO. Don't get married.

So will she or will she not work after having the baby? It'll affect what visa she should get.

She will look for a job a few months after giving birth. Obviously that is not a guarantee that she will get a job but the intention is clear.

Probably trying to find a 50 % job in the beginning.

marriage is a promise.

are you ready to promise your girlfreidn that you love her, that you will be faithful to her and stand by her in good times as in bad?

then marry her (with an unforgettable party if it suits you )

I have been in your girlfriend's situation, though I was married. This is my experience to answer some of the questions above.

She will need a visa. She needs to go to her local Gemeinde within 8 days of arriving in Switzerland to register and get her B permit. Yo should go with her to declare that you will support her. They may want some further declaration from you that you will continue to support her because you are not married - you should check on this before she arrives. Whether or not the permit says that she can work does not matter. As she is an EU citizen she is entitled to look for work here and when she finds a job she just goes to the gemeinde and tells them, they will want a copy of her contract. (I started my new job last week :-)

She cannot take out health insurance until she is resident here. I registered as resident before I came over here permanently - my husband was already here, like you are, so this was easy. The advantage of doing this before the last few weeks of pregnancy is that you can decide where to give birth, have some checks with the midwives here, and generally not be stressed about the whole thing. I continued to have check-ups in both CH and the UK in case there were any later complications that would prevent me coming to join my husband the month before my due date. Sure you pay a bit extra in a few months health insurance than if you leave it to the last minute, but thats a small price to pay for peace of mind and good health.

I continued to visit my husband and go back to London for work until i went on maternity leave and then I moved over here permanently. I was tax resident in both the UK and Switzerland for about 18 months. This is fine, as long as you pay all your taxes to both countries.

No one can tell you exactly how much tax you might save by getting married, but in general Switzerland is supportive of the family unit and you will find your life here a lot easier as a family if you are married. If you decide not to, don't forget to look up all the threads on here about having to declare your paternity etc, and also check into the potential nationality implications for your child of being born in Switzerland to parents of different nationalities neither of which are SWiss.

If you want further info on my experience feel free to PM me.