Claim for Reimbursement of CHF 100,000 by the Executor

Facts

The plaintiff, Attorney A. as the executor of the estate of Mrs. X., filed a claim against the defendant Y., a taxi driver in Zurich, for the reimbursement of CHF 100,000. Shortly before her death on August 28, 1974, Mrs. X. had instructed her bank to transfer CHF 100,000 from her account to an account of the defendant Y. The heirs and the executor only learned of this payment on September 16, 1974. Y. claimed that the sum had been gifted to him by Mrs. X.

The District Court of Zurich upheld the claim, but the Cantonal Court of Zurich dismissed it. The plaintiff then appealed to the Federal Supreme Court.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court held that Mrs. X.'s instruction to the bank to transfer CHF 100,000 to the defendant did establish a relationship of mandate under Art. 466 et seq. of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO). However, this did not give the defendant a right to claim the money from Mrs. X. if the bank had refused the payment. Rather, the defendant had to prove a valid legal basis for receiving the CHF 100,000.

The defendant claimed that it was a gift from Mrs. X. However, the Federal Supreme Court found that a valid gift was not established. On the one hand, the payment instruction did not meet the formal requirements for a gift promise…