Facts
In this case, Werner Steffen, the son, requested the Justice of the Peace of Locarno-Campagna to establish a probate inventory, on the one hand by virtue of the benefit of inventory (Art. 580 CC) and on the other hand as a precautionary measure (Art. 553 CC), following the death of his father Giovanni Steffen. The executor and the other heirs (the widow Edvige and the son Walter) contested these decisions of the Justice of the Peace before the Cantonal Court of Ticino, which ultimately annulled the orders of the Justice of the Peace.
Werner Steffen and his minor children then appealed against this decision of the Cantonal Court to the Federal Tribunal, requesting the dismissal of the appeals of the executor and the other heirs, and the confirmation of the orders of the Justice of the Peace granting the benefit of inventory and ordering precautionary measures.
Considerations
The Federal Tribunal ruled that the appeal for reform was not admissible, because the inventory procedure, whether under Art. 580 CC (benefit of inventory) or Art. 553 CC (precautionary measures), does not constitute a "civil dispute" within the meaning of Arts. 44 and 46 of the Judiciary Act (OJ). Indeed, the authority ordering the inventory does not rule on substantive rights, but merely ascertains the content of the estate or…