For anyone who wants to pass on their assets in a self-determined manner, in accordance with their wishes: our inheritance advisors develop personal solutions.

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    Around CHF 60 billion in assets are bequeathed every year in Switzerland.

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    Some 80% of heirs are older than 50; 40% are over 65.

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    Only 25% of Swiss citizens have a written contract for their estate.

The laws on matrimonial property and inheritance offer numerous options for structuring estate planning in accordance with your wishes. Our pension and financial advisors focus on you and your family when providing assistance. We review the matrimonial property and inheritance circumstances, prepare the necessary documents and take account of future phases of your life that are of financial importance. We can also advise you in other legal areas as well, including the law concerning gifts and the law related to the protection of adults (advance care directives and patient decrees). Because it’s never too early to determine the future of your assets in a self-determined manner.

Your advantages at a glance

Matrimonial property and inheritance law
We will show you the statutory requirements, review your personal situation and advise you on your structuring and disposal options with respect to marriage contracts, wills, and inheritance and donation contracts.

Inheritance and gift taxes
We will show you the inheritance and gift-tax consequences of the various structuring options. The tax implications must be taken into account, especially with “patchwork families”, inheritances granted to people other than close relatives, preliminary and reversionary inheritance structures, legacies or usufruct solutions.

Law on the Protection of Adults
We can advise you on matters related to the inability to make judgements and explain your self-determination options, such as advance health directives and patient decrees.

Make an appointment for a consultation

Would you like to learn more about inheritance and estate planning at Swiss Life, or do you have questions? We would be pleased to provide you with more information – in a personal and non-binding consultation.

FAQs

With a will (unilateral arrangement), you can affect the order of succession. You can designate individual beneficiaries, name third parties as heirs, and stipulate usufructs, legacies and preliminary and reversionary heirs. In addition, allocation and valuation rules, burdens and conditions as well as substitution orders can be defined. You can also appoint an executor. The will may either be handwritten or officially recorded and certified (notarised).

With a contract of inheritance (multilateral arrangement), the testator can make arrangements with the heirs or a third party. He and/or the heirs can enter into obligations (contract of inheritance or legacy) or a agree on (partial) renunciation (inheritance renunciation contract). Failure to observe statutory shares, allocation and valuation rules, and other testamentary provisions may be arranged in a binding manner with the consent of the relevant parties. You must have a contract of inheritance officially recorded and certified (notarised).

A contract of inheritance also makes sense in the case of complex assets and/or family relationships (patchwork). With it you can aim for a pragmatic solution and avoid disputes between the heirs.

With a matrimonial agreement you can change the matrimonial property regime and/or within a matrimonial property regime, among other things, adjust the allocation of assets in the event of dissolution of the marriage due to death. We can help you find a solution that best meets your situation. You must have the matrimonial agreement officially recorded by a notary. You can conclude the contract before you marry or after.