Reduction of Gifts to Third Parties by Compulsory Heirs

Facts

The case concerns the reduction of gifts that the testatrix Mrs. E. made to N. during her lifetime. The plaintiffs S. and the heirs of Mrs. H. have separately sued to reduce these gifts by a total of CHF 12,000,000.

The Civil Court Z. partially upheld the claims and ordered the defendant estate of N. to pay CHF 3,813,564 to S. and CHF 51,588 to the heirs of Mrs. H. The Appellate Court A. amended the first instance judgment and ordered the defendant estate to pay CHF 12,000,000 to S. and CHF 9,601,412 to the heirs of Mrs. H.

The estate of N. has appealed the judgment of the Appellate Court to the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court has decided that it is the non-inclusion in the public inventory, rather than the failure to register, that triggers the preclusive effects under Art. 590 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB). Since the plaintiffs' claims were recorded in the inventory, they passed on to the heirs regardless of who had registered them or on whose initiative they had been included.

For the calculation of the restitution, the Federal Supreme Court confirmed the Appellate Court's view that the estate, compulsory shares, and available quota are to be calculated based on the value at the time of the opening of the succession. The claim for reduction is of an obligatory…