Facts

- On 15 October 1998, [D.D.] passed away and left his son [E.D.] as the sole legal heir. [B.] and [C.] were appointed as executors. - [D.D.] had promised his long-term partner [A.] a gift of 3 million CHF and a lifelong annuity of 25,000 CHF or 15,000 CHF per month. - [E.D.] contested various wills or will clauses of the testator. The parties agreed that [A.] would receive, instead of the gift, an interest-free loan of 3 million CHF, an additional payment of 700,000 CHF, and a lifelong annuity of 15,000 CHF per month. - The tax administration of the Canton of Zug assessed inheritance taxes in the amount of 815,030.50 CHF, of which 613,840 CHF were attributable to [A.] . - The executors discontinued the annuity payments as of February 2005 and offset the tax amount of 613,840 CHF plus interest paid by them against [A.] 's annuity claims.

Considerations

- The Appellate Court of the Canton of Ticino considered the first-instance amendment of the claim as inadmissible and should have decided on the original claim for 328,840 CHF. Instead, it dismissed the claim as moot, as the tax claim had been offset against the maintenance claims. - The Federal Supreme Court sees this as a…