Facts
[C.], born in 1953, died in 2019 without children. As the legal heir, her sister [B.] was left behind. [C.] drafted a handwritten document with the heading "My Testament", which she placed in an envelope and labeled "Testament C. [First and Last Name in Capital Letters], U.". She handed this envelope over to the Inheritance Office of Basel-Stadt for safekeeping on August 5, 2013. The document itself was not signed.
The Inheritance Office opened the deposited document, whereupon [B.] filed a lawsuit for a declaration of invalidity. While the first-instance Civil Court of Basel-Stadt dismissed the lawsuit, the Court of Appeal of the Canton of Basel-Stadt declared the unsigned holographic last will and testament to be invalid.
With a civil law appeal, A., the cousin of the decedent, requested the annulment of the decision and the full dismissal of the lawsuit.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. It found that the introductory self-designation of the decedent at the beginning of the document, as well as the inscription on the envelope, do not fulfill the requirement of a signature pursuant to Art. 505 para. 1 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB).
The Federal Supreme Court explained that the signature in a holographic last will and testament is intended to serve two purposes: Firstly, to document the identity of the testator, and secondly, to mark the completion of the…