Facts
On March 25, 1976, Pauline Ullmann created an oral emergency will in the presence of the nurses Berta Kofler and Yvonne Ulmann, in which she made provisions in favor of Mrs. Thekla Geiges and the Catholic parish of Tobel. The legal heirs of Pauline Ullmann filed a lawsuit requesting that the emergency will be declared null or invalid. The District Court of Frauenfeld and the High Court of the Canton of Thurgau granted the lawsuit, as the testator had not declared her last will simultaneously to both witnesses.
Mrs. Geiges appealed against this judgment to the Federal Supreme Court. The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and confirmed the decisions of the lower courts. It stated that according to Art. 506 para. 2 CC, the testator must declare his or her last will simultaneously to both witnesses when creating an oral emergency will. This formal requirement had not been met, as the testator had not made her declarations simultaneously to the two nurses. The violation of this formal requirement…