Heirs' Claim Against Executor for Reimbursement of Excessive Advance Fee Payments and Applicable Limitation Period

The case concerned the claim by heirs against an executor for the reimbursement of excessive advance payments received by the executor against his final fee, where the executor argued the claim was time-barred under the one-year limitation period for unjust enrichment (Art. 67 OR). The court held that the claim for reimbursement of advance payments made to an executor, which are provisional until a final accounting under the executor's duties (Art. 517 para. 3 ZGB and subsidiarily Art. 394 ff. OR), is not governed by the one-year limitation period of unjust enrichment, but by the ordinary limitation period, specifically the five-year period applicable to fee claims of legal professionals (Art. 128 Ziff. 3 OR), as advance payments are made under reservation of a final settlement and do not constitute final payments until that accounting is complete.