Facts
The dispute concerns the validity of a testamentary disposition by which the deceased granted his son the right to acquire the residential property of the estate for the price of 15,000 francs. The deceased's daughters filed an action for nullity of this disposition.
The Federal Tribunal ruled that the daughters' claim was prescribed. Indeed, the one-year time limit provided for in Art. 521 para. 1 CC for filing an action for nullity of a testamentary disposition was not observed. Although the daughters had seized the justice of the peace within the one-year time limit, they did not file their claim with the competent court within the additional six-month time limit provided for by the cantonal procedure. The Federal Tribunal considered that this one-year time limit was not a limitation period, but a preclusive time limit, which could not be interrupted by the seizure of the justice of the peace.
The daughters, in their capacity as co-owners and co-possessors of the estate with their brother, could also not invoke Art. 521 para. 3 CC to assert the nullity of the will at any time by way of exception, as they had themselves filed an action for nullity and not raised the nullity in the context of proceedings initiated by their brother.
Considerations
Consequently, the Federal Tribunal upheld the son's appeal and…