Facts
The dispute concerns the validity and effects of a trust established on 12 April 1928 by Francis Harrison, an American citizen, for the benefit of his children from his marriage to Salena Wrentmore. According to the terms of the trust, Harrison fiducially transferred two-thirds of the assets he had initially entrusted to The Farmers Loan and Trust Company of New York to the Swiss Bank of Credit (the defendant), with instructions to pay Salena Wrentmore, his ex-wife, an annual income of $5,000 as long as she did not remarry, the balance to revert to Harrison during his lifetime and, after his death, to be divided equally among his three children. After Harrison's death in 1957, his widow Maria Harrison brought an action against the Swiss Bank of Credit to have the trust declared null and void and to obtain the restitution of the fiduciary assets, on the grounds that this trust would be contrary to Swiss law. The Harrison children intervened in the proceedings as litisdenunziaten (joined parties) to defend the interests of the trust. The dispute notably concerned the issue of the applicable law and the formal validity of the trust under Swiss law.Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considers that the trust must be qualified, under Swiss law, as a combination of a fiduciary transfer of ownership, a promise of donation, and a contract for the benefit of third parties. This legal construction is not contrary to the mandatory provisions of Swiss law, particularly in the area of family law and inheritance law.
As regards the form, the Federal Tribunal notes that the donation to the…