Facts
The late Maria [F.], who passed away on July 25, 1982, left four siblings as her legal heirs. Her son Robert S. Sr. informed his three siblings on August 3, 1982 that he would renounce his share of the inheritance from Maria [F.] in their favor. After the death of Robert S. Sr. on July 28, 1986, his son Robert S. Jr. claimed the share of his father in the inheritance of Maria F. The Inheritance Division Office declared the renunciation of inheritance by Robert S. Sr. as valid and distributed the estate of Maria [F.] to her two surviving sisters. Robert S. Jr. then filed a lawsuit against the two sisters.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court had to decide according to which law the validity of the contract on the assignment of inheritance shares pursuant to Art. 635 para. 1 of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB) is to be assessed. It came to the following conclusion:
In principle, the inheritance statute is to be applied to the entire estate. It follows that the division of the inheritance and thus also the assignment of an inheritance share must be governed by the inheritance statute. This…