• news-banner

    Expert Insights

Available in other languages:

Revision of Swiss inheritance law: Federal Council sets the date of entry into force

The Federal Council has announced that the revision of Swiss inheritance law will enter into force on 1 January 2023.

This revision aims at adapting inheritance law to the evolution of society.

The amendments include reducing the statutory entitlement (“réserve légale”) of the descendants, abolishing the statutory entitlement of the parents, and thus increasing the testator’s freedom to dispose of his assets, and changes to the calculation of the estate.

Statutory entitlement

Firstly, the statutory entitlement of the descendants is reduced (from three quarters to half their right of succession) and the parents’ statutory entitlement is abolished. The testator will thus be able to favour people of his choice more and will benefit from greater flexibility in the transfer of family businesses. In this respect, it should be noted that the Federal Council intends to further simplify the transfer of a business by succession by taking additional legislative measures to remove certain existing obstacles. The Federal Council has put a further draft out to consultation in April 2019 and will probably present the message to Parliament later this year.

Secondly, in the event of death before the end of the divorce proceedings or proceedings for the dissolution of the registered partnership, the survivor will, in principle, lose his status as heir entitled to a compulsory share.

Improved status of the surviving spouse or registered partner

The right to dispose (“quotité disponible”) where there is a usufruct in favour of the surviving spouse or registered partner is increased from one quarter of the estate to half of the estate. The testator will thus be able to favour his surviving spouse or registered partner more by granting him half of the estate in full ownership and the usufruct on the other half.

Clarifications regarding the calculation of the estate

In the case of the attribution of an additional share of the profit to the surviving spouse or registered partner by marriage contract or assets agreement, this attribution must be qualified as an inter vivos gift (and not as a testamentary disposition) and will have to be included in the calculation mass of the statutory entitlement (which will thus increase).

Private pension plans (pillar 3a) do not form part of the estate but may be reduced if the heirs entitled to a compulsory share do not receive their statutory entitlement.

What remains unchanged

The statutory entitlement of the surviving spouse and registered partner are maintained at half of their succession right and will thus be equal to that of the descendants.

The statutory heirs remain the same and their inheritance shares will not change.

As a consequence, in the absence of testamentary dispositions, the division of the deceased's estate will be identical as today’s.

Other current changes in Swiss inheritance law

In addition to the above-mentioned revision of the legal provisions facilitating the transfer of a business by inheritance, the Federal Council has undertaken to revise the chapter of the Private International Law Act on succession with the aim of minimising the risk of conflicts of jurisdiction and conflicting decisions in relations with the majority of EU states and providing citizens with greater legal certainty and predictability in the fate of their assets after their death.

Charles Russell Speechlys can advise you on your wealth and estate planning and assist you in drafting your testamentary dispositions.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Grégoire Uldry or Christophe Levet.

Our thinking

  • Protecting Premarital Wealth and the Family Home for Molly-Mae

    Miranda Fisher

    Quick Reads

  • What You Need to Know About International Family Law

    William Longrigg

    Events

  • Charles Russell Speechlys finds that 3 in 4 Gen Z adults plan on tying the knot as young people embrace traditional life milestones

    Sarah Jane Boon

    News

  • What is the cost of cohabitation? For Dale Vince, it was over £11m.

    Matt Foster

    Quick Reads

  • The Financial Times and The Telegraph quote Catrin Harrison on the growing use of life assurance as a strategy to mitigate against inheritance tax liabilities

    Catrin Harrison

    In the Press

  • Naomi Nettleton and Alicia Stanford-Shard write for Property Week on how landed estate owners are increasingly looking to make improvements to their estates to enhance environmental impact and efficiency

    Naomi Nettleton

    In the Press

  • A Closer Look at the Meaning of ‘Investor’ in Investment Treaty Arbitration

    Stephen Chan

    Insights

  • AML in decentralized finance and traditional finance

    Caroline Greenwell

    Insights

  • New FIBA Rule on Payment to Agents

    Pierre Bydzovsky

    Quick Reads

  • The Financial Times quotes Sangna Chauhan on the impact of the abolition of UK non-dom status on her workload

    Sangna Chauhan

    In the Press

  • International Arbitration: 2024 in Review

    Thomas R. Snider

    Insights

  • Budget 2024 and its impact on IHT and estates

    Harriet Betteridge

    Podcasts

  • Charles Russell Speechlys finds that over half of Gen Z say the Bank of Mum and Dad comes with strings attached

    Sally Ashford

    News

  • The Financial Times reports on our independent survey of Gen Z adults and quotes Sally Ashford on the influence of the Bank of Mum and Dad and potential strings attached

    Sally Ashford

    In the Press

  • Understanding Contempt of Court in Swiss Law: Key Provisions and Penalties

    Remo Wagner

    Insights

  • The Independent quotes Dominic Lawrance on the ‘watering down’ of Labour’s non-dom tax reforms

    Dominic Lawrance

    In the Press

  • Jenny from (her agreed share of) the Block: Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck’s mediation settlement

    Sarah Anticoni

    Quick Reads

  • Charles Russell Speechlys appoints two new Of Counsel in Paris

    Frédéric Jeannin

    News

  • Understanding Civil and Criminal Remedies in France for Financial Crimes

    Frédéric Jeannin

    Insights

  • They think it’s all over … it is now! Are the changes to non-dom status an own goal against our footballers?

    Joshua Green

    Quick Reads

Back to top