Legal succession in Switzerland: How much do you inherit?

Legal succession in Switzerland is based on the parentela system, which regulates the distribution of assets among the legal heirs after the death of the testator. If there are several legal heirs, the estate is divided according to a specific inheritance quota. This quota depends on the composition of the community of heirs and their relationship to the testator.

There are three so-called parentelas, i.e. ranks of relatives and family members of the deceased who are legally entitled to inherit. In first place are the direct descendants of the deceased. In second place are the parents of the deceased and their descendants, and in third place are the grandparents and their further descendants.

Spouses and registered partners are outside the parentage system, but also have a legal right to inherit under Article 462 of the Swiss Civil Code. This depends on which parentage they have to share with. If they share with the descendants, they receive half; if they share with the heirs of the parental line, they receive three quarters. If there are no heirs in either the first or second line, they inherit the entire estate.

When does statutory succession take effect?

In contrast to voluntary succession through a contract of inheritance, statutory succession only takes effect upon the death of the testator. Furthermore, the rules of statutory succession only apply if the testator has not made any other arrangements in the form of a will or contract of inheritance during their lifetime.

Succession is governed by an order of priority established in the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB) between the various family members and relatives of the deceased, as well as by their degree of kinship. In order to determine a person’s legal share of the inheritance, it must first be established to which parentel they belong.

The heirs of the first parentage

According to Article 457(1) of the Swiss Civil Code, the direct descendants of the deceased have first priority in the legal succession. This parentage includes children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Adopted children are also entitled to inherit, while stepchildren are generally excluded from the legal succession.

In addition, the following principles apply to the distribution of the inheritance within the family:

• The principle of ‘old before young’ favours heirs according to their advanced age.
• The inheritance is divided equally among the children.
• If a child dies, his or her descendants inherit his or her share equally.
• If the child dies before the testator and has no descendants of his or her own, his or her siblings inherit his or her share equally.
• If there are no heirs in the first degree of kinship, the relatives in the second degree of kinship inherit.

Succession for spouses and registered partners

Spouses and registered partners are not part of the parentage system, but also have a legal right to inherit under Article 462 of the Swiss Civil Code. This depends on which parentage they share with. If they share with the descendants, they receive half; if they share with the heirs of the parental line, they receive three quarters. If there are no heirs in either the first or second line, they inherit the entire estate.

After the death of her husband, the wife has a legal right to inherit. The couple has no other relatives apart from their children. As the wife shares with the descendants, she receives half of the inheritance in accordance with the legal provisions. The other half is divided equally between their children.

The heirs of the second parentel

• The second parentel includes the parents of the deceased and their descendants, i.e. the siblings and nieces and nephews of the deceased. Within this parentel, the following lines of succession apply in accordance with Article 458 of the Swiss Civil Code:
• The parents of the deceased inherit the entire estate in equal shares.
  If only one parent is still alive, they inherit half of the estate, and the other half is divided among the descendants of the deceased parent. If the deceased parent has no descendants, the surviving parent inherits the entire estate.
• If there are no members of the second parentage, the relatives from the third parentage inherit.

The heirs of the third degree of kinship

Finally, the third degree of kinship includes the testator’s grandparents and their descendants. The testator’s uncles, aunts and cousins are therefore entitled to inherit.

According to Article 459 of the Swiss Civil Code, the following rules apply to the distribution of the estate:

• The inheritance is divided equally among the grandparents, each receiving one quarter.
• The descendants of deceased grandparents take their place.
• If one of the grandparents is already deceased and has left no descendants, their share of the inheritance passes to the remaining grandparent.
• If one set of grandparents (maternal or paternal) is deceased, the other set of grandparents inherits the entire estate.

The amount of the inheritance to which the legal heirs are entitled is determined by the rules of statutory inheritance. Here are some examples of statutory inheritance shares:

• If the deceased was unmarried and had three children, each child inherits one third of the estate.
• If the deceased was married and had three children, the spouse inherits half of the estate and the children inherit the other half in equal shares.
• If the deceased had no children or spouse, their parents inherit the estate.
• If the deceased had no children but a spouse, the spouse inherits three quarters of the estate and the remaining quarter goes to the deceased’s parents.

What is the free quota?

The free quota is the part of the estate that remains after the distribution of the statutory compulsory portions to the related heirs. This part of the inheritance can be freely distributed by will or gift during the testator’s lifetime. The amount of the available share depends essentially on the number of legal heirs and the amount of the compulsory portion. The more persons entitled to a compulsory portion there are, the smaller the free quota share.

Registered partners are treated the same as spouses in Switzerland when it comes to legal succession. This means that if the person who died didn’t leave a will, a registered partner is treated like a spouse under the rules of legal succession. Divorced spouses, on the other hand, can no longer invoke legal succession. According to Article 472 of the Swiss Civil Code, this also applies if the divorce is not yet final, provided that the proceedings were initiated or continued on the basis of a joint application or the spouses or registered partners have already been living apart for two years.

Tip: If the deceased leaves behind a partner with whom they were not married or in a registered partnership (cohabiting partner), that person has no legal claim to inheritance. If you want your partner to receive part of your estate, it is advisable to draw up a will or inheritance contract with the help of a solicitor specialising in inheritance law.

Disinheriting a legal heir by will or inheritance contract is generally only possible under very strict conditions. However, there are certain cases in which a legal heir can be excluded from succession. On the one hand, they can renounce their inheritance themselves by concluding an inheritance waiver agreement or an inheritance buyout (Article 494 of the Swiss Civil Code).

Special cases: unworthiness to inherit and precautionary disinheritance

In rare cases, an heir may be deprived of their right to inherit and declared unworthy to inherit. The prerequisite for this is that there is an important legal reason for disinheritance (Article 477 of the Swiss Civil Code). This is the case, for example, if an heir has committed serious criminal offences against the testator or a person close to them.

For example, the attempted or intentional killing of the testator constitutes grounds for unworthiness to inherit. If such a case occurs, the share of the heir in question passes to their legally recognised descendants.

In addition, the testator has the option of exercising his right to punitive or preventive disinheritance during his lifetime. Punitive disinheritance of a legal heir is possible if the heir has committed a serious crime against the testator or violated his family law obligations. Precautionary disinheritance, on the other hand, is usually applied when, for example, an heir has high debts and the testator wishes to prevent his legacy to this heir from falling into the hands of creditors.