Facts
The married couple Niederer-Harlacher jointly acquired a single-family house property in 1955. After the death of Berta Niederer-Harlacher in 1984, her husband Ernst Niederer filed a claim for the determination and division of the estate. At the same time, the deceased's niece, Elisabeth Baumgartner-Harlacher, applied to the District Office of Maienfeld for an order to auction the co-ownership share registered in the name of the decedent.
The President of the Cantonal Court of Graubünden dismissed Ernst Niederer's appeal against the order to auction. Thereupon, Ernst Niederer filed a constitutional appeal with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court concluded that the present dispute is a civil law dispute, against which an appeal is admissible. The question of whether the District President as the enforcement judge can order the auction of a thing if its belonging to the estate is disputed is to be assessed according to federal law.
The Federal Supreme Court decided that the order to auction the disputed co-ownership share is contrary to federal law, as long as it is not clarified whether it actually belongs to the estate. For an auction would be prejudicial to the outcome of the inheritance dispute, in which Ernst Niederer claims that the…