Facts
The testator, D., passed away shortly after the dissolution of his second marriage on April 21, 1997. He left behind two adult daughters from his first marriage and a minor daughter from his second marriage. As D. was unemployed at the time, his pension fund assets were held in a vested benefits account. The two daughters from the first marriage demanded that the vested benefits, to the extent they originated from the supplementary pension provision, be included in the estate and that they receive this sum.
The lower instances ruled that the defendant must pay a portion of the vested benefits to the plaintiffs. The Federal Supreme Court overturned this judgment and dismissed the claim for reduction and division of the inheritance.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court stated that benefits from the mandatory occupational pension scheme (Pillar 2a) as well as from the supplementary occupational pension scheme (Pillar 2b) do not fall into the estate and are also not subject to statutory reduction in inheritance. This is based on the fact that the legal relationship between the pension beneficiary and the pension institution in the area of supplementary pension provision is of a private law nature, and the beneficiaries have their own claim against the pension institution, which is based on Art. 112 para.…