Liability of Disclaiming Heirs under Art. 579 SCC

Facts

In this case, it was about the liability of the defendants A. and B. as disclaiming heirs under Art. 579 of the Swiss Civil Code (SCC) towards the bankruptcy estate of the inheritance of E. The debt collection and bankruptcy office filed a claim against the defendants for the surrender of assets that E. had transferred to them during his lifetime.

The Court of Appeal had partially upheld the claim. The Federal Supreme Court upheld the appeal of the defendants and dismissed the claim insofar as it was based on the liability of the heirs under Art. 579 SCC.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court stated that the bankruptcy estate of the inheritance was indeed entitled to assert claims under Art. 579 SCC. The liability of the disclaiming heirs under this provision is comparable to the creditor protection provision in Art. 193 SCC and is therefore subject to an independent limitation period of 10 years.

The decisive factor was that the testator had exempted the defendants from the obligation to equalize the surplus value of the gifts. This testamentary dispensation from equalization…