Facts
In this case, the widow Meier transferred during her lifetime to her daughter Olga Gurtner-Meier three properties at a price below their market value. After the death of the widow Meier, her other children filed an action for the division of the estate, requesting in particular the nullity or reduction of the transfer and the establishment of their right to a share of the gain realized in the event of a possible resale by Olga Gurtner-Meier. The Federal Tribunal rejected the main conclusions of the plaintiffs, but upheld their subsidiary conclusion by ordering the annotation in the land register of the coheirs' right to a share of the gain for 15 years from the transfer of July 28, 1961, the reference amount being set at 28,300 francs.Considerations
The Federal Tribunal first considered that, in accordance with the rules of transitional law, the coheirs' right to a share of the gain should be assessed according to the law in force at the time of the acquisition of the property by the heir, i.e. in this case July 28, 1961. It then ruled that Art. 619 CC, in its version prior to July 1, 1965, should be applied by analogy when the deceased, during his lifetime, sold a property to a presumptive heir at a price below the market value. This solution is justified by the close…