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Easy answers about life in Switzerland
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  • Family and partnership
  • Inheritance
  • Succession: who inherits what?
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  • Family and partnership
  • Inheritance
  • Succession: who inherits what?

Succession: who inherits what?

In Switzerland, the law is clear about who your heirs will be. However, in a will or contract of succession you can influence how at least part of your estate will be distributed.

News

The law of succession is currently under review. It is planned to give people more freedom to dispose of their assets as they wish.
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The estate goes to your legal heirs

If you have not made a will (known as being ‘intestate’ or a contract of succession), your estate will be divided among your legal heirs, i.e. the persons that the law says have the right to inherit your assets. Your legal heirs are your spouse or partner (husband, wife or registered partner) and your closest relatives (your children, or if you have no children, your parents or even your grandparents). They inherit in a predetermined order, according to their statutory succession rights.

  • If you have children: your estate is divided between your spouse or partner (husband, wife or registered partner) and your children (or if they predecease you, their children, if they have any).

  • If you do not have any children: your estate is divided between your spouse or partner and your parents (or your siblings if your parents have already died).

  • If you have no relatives - neither on your parents' side (e.g. brothers or sisters) nor on your grandparents' side (their brothers and sisters or their descendants), your entire estate goes to your spouse or partner.

  • If you are not married or in a registered partnership and you have no relatives, your estate goes to the canton or commune of your last place of residence.

Please note: If your partner is not married to or in a registered partnership with you, he or she is not your legal heir. If you want your partner to inherit from you, you must expressly provide for this in your will or in a contract of succession.

How much legal heirs are entitled to on intestacy: their statutory succession rights

If you have children, your estate goes:
If you don't have children, your estate goes:

If you are married or in a registered partnership

You are neither married nor in a registered partnership

100% to your children (or, if any predecease you, to their descendants)

Example: Your estate amounts to CHF 100,000. You have not made a will or a contract of succession:
a) You have a husband, a son, a brother and a mother.

  • Your husband inherits CHF 50,000.

  • Your son inherits CHF 50,000.

b) You have a wife and a brother.

  • Your wife inherits CHF 75,000.

  • Your brother inherits CHF 25,000.

c) You have one son and three sisters.

  • Your son inherits CHF 100,000.

Freedom of choice

By making a will or a contract of succession, you can decide on your heirs and how your estate is distributed, but only within the limits of the law. For example, you can:

  • Favour one or more legal heirs over others. e.g., you can leave more to your spouse or registered partner than to your children.

  • You can provide for other heirs in addition to those provided for by law. e.g. for your partner.

Limits to your freedom of choice

Some of your legal heirs cannot be totally excluded from inheriting a share of your estate. They are:

  • your spouse or registered partner

  • your children, or if your children have predeceased you, their descendants (children and possibly their children)

Even if you do not want them to receive anything, these heirs are entitled to half of their share of your estate, known as their statutory entitlement. This does not apply to your brothers, sisters or cousins. You can exclude them from inheriting a share of your estate by providing in your will that your assets will go to others.
Heirs who have a statutory entitlement can decide not to accept it:

  • by renouncing the inheritance

  • by not contesting a will that does not give them their statutory entitlement; or

  • by entering into an inheritance agreement (contract of succession)with you while you are still alive in which they renounce their statutory entitlement

Contact a lawyer or notary to find out more about this.

What you can freely dispose of in your will

In your will, you are only free to leave a certain portion of your estate to whom you please; this portion is known as the disposable part. The amount of the disposable part depends on who your legal heirs are when you die. If you have no partner or descendants (children or grandchildren), you can dispose of your assets as you wish. If you do have legal heirs, the freedom to dispose of your assets is limited, and what their statutory succession rights would have been if you had not made a will.
Your family situation
How much you can freely dispose of (disposable part)

You have a spouse or a registered partner

50% of your estate

You have children (or possibly grandchildren)

50% of your estate

You have a spouse or a registered partner and children

50% of your estate

You only have your parents

All of your estate

You have a spouse or a registered partner and siblings

62.5% of your estate

You have parents and siblings

All of your estate

Example: Your estate amounts to CHF 100,000.
You have a husband, two children and a brother.

  • Husband's statutory entitlement: CHF 25,000 (i.e. 50 % of his statutory succession rights)

  • Your children's statutory entitlement: CHF 12,500 each (i.e. 50 % of their statutory succession rights)

  • You are free to leave CHF 50,000 francs to whomever you wish (the disposable part)

Please note: depending on whether you are married or have children, what relatives you have, etc., there are many possible permutations. You should consult a lawyer to find out how much of your estate you are free to dispose of in your own case.
Most cantons impose an inheritance tax. Husbands, wives and registered partners are often exempt from this tax.
If you have any questions about how your estate will be divided up, or about statutory entitlements or the freely disposable part, contact a lawyer or a notary.
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