Inheritance law (Switzerland)
The law of inheritance in Switzerland comprises those legal norms of the civil code that deal with the transfer of the property of a person ( testator ) upon death to one or more other persons.
Legal bases
In Swiss private law, inheritance law is regulated in Part Three of the Civil Code from Art. 457 .
It follows the basic principle of universal succession . This means that all pecuniary rights of the testator upon his death - the case of inheritance - immediately and undividedly pass to the community of heirs , the community of all heirs. This in turn is the owner of the entire hand until the division has taken place.
Legal heirs
The legal heirs are divided into three parentele (tribes), which are taken into account one after the other; in particular these are:
- The descendants of the testator
- The parents of the testator and their descendants
- The testator's grandparents and their descendants
The tribes are mutually exclusive; if a tribe is extinct, the inheritance falls to the nearest parent. The right to inheritance ends with the grandparents' tribe.
In addition to the parents, any surviving spouse or registered partner of the testator inherits.
If no representative of the three parents and no surviving spouse or registered partner of the testator are still alive, the inheritance falls to the community. Depending on the legislation of the last canton of residence, this is either the canton itself or a municipality designated by it.
Compulsory portions
Certain legal heirs are protected by a compulsory portion, which means that they are entitled to a certain minimum quota of the inheritance. The compulsory portions are calculated as a fraction of the statutory entitlement in accordance with Art. 471 ZGB.
The compulsory portion is three quarters for a descendant, half for each of the parents and half of the legal inheritance claim for the surviving spouse or registered partner. The relatives of the third parent, the grandparents and their descendants, do not enjoy any compulsory portion protection.
If compulsory portions are violated, this is to be asserted in court with the reduction action according to Art. 522 ff. ZGB.
Disposal by death
The testator can deviate from the legal succession by means of a disposition due to death, i.e. a will (also: testamentary disposition) or an inheritance contract.
Various regulations have to be observed. The will must be formally established; it must either be handwritten, dated and signed or publicly notarized. In addition, the testator must be capable of disposal (of legal age and capable of judgment). The inheritance contract requires public notarization.
There are also material restrictions. The testator can, for example, appoint additional heirs, align legacies and adjust the quotas of the heirs of the compulsory portion. In doing so, however, he must especially observe the compulsory portions of the legal heirs. Disinheritance is only possible within strict legal requirements.
If a disposal was not formally established due to death, it is invalid and can therefore be challenged in court by means of an action for invalidity. An action for annulment can also be pursued if the content of the disposition is illegal or immoral. The disposition is also invalid if the testator was incapable of disposal or lack of will at the time of establishment.
literature
- Stephan Wolf, Stephanie Hrubesch-Millauer: Outline of Swiss inheritance law. Bern 2017, Stämpfli, ISBN 978-3-7272-0678-8
- Peter Breitschmid, Paul Eitel , Roland Fankhauser , Thomas Geiser, Alexandra Jungo: Inheritance law. 3rd edition, Zurich 2016, Schulthess, ISBN 978-3-7255-7236-6
- Daniel Abt, Thomas Weibel (Ed.): Practical commentary on inheritance law: Estate planning - Estate management - Enforcement of wills - Litigation - International private law - Tax law. 3rd edition, Basel 2015, Helbing Lichtenhahn, ISBN 978-3-7190-3271-5
