Deletion of an Adoption from the Civil Registry

Facts

The parties are from the Bohemian noble family of von Schwarzenberg. The complainant is the biological daughter of Heinrich Karl Borromäus Maria Franz von Sales Johannes Eleemosinarius Dominikus Benediktus von Schwarzenberg, and the respondent is his adopted son. The background of the dispute are inheritance proceedings in the Czech Republic and Austria regarding the estate of Heinrich von Schwarzenberg.

On April 30, 2002, the complainant obtained the registration of the alleged 1940 adoption of Heinrich von Schwarzenberg by Adolf von Schwarzenberg in the family register of the city of Zurich. Thereupon, the respondent demanded on July 11, 2008, based on Art. 42 ZGB, the deletion of the adoption entry. The District Court of Zurich ordered the deletion, which was confirmed by the High Court of the Canton of Zurich. The complainant appealed against this to the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court states that the High Court rightly ordered the deletion of the adoption entry. The respondent had provided the legally binding judgment of the Landgericht Bamberg of April 11, 2006, which had overturned the decision of the Amtsgericht Bamberg of December 13, 2001, which had served as the basis for the registry entry, thus proving…