The new revised Swiss Inheritance Law, starting from January 1st 2023 grants a testator the right to freely dispose over a larger share of his estate.
The disposition of one’s succession in a testamentary way according to one’s wishes will be facilitated as the measures decrease from the compulsory shares. Consequently, it will be possible to dispose of the assets more freely and therefore to benefit others, for example, a cohabiting partner (concubinage). The reduction of compulsory rights also facilitates the succession regulation of family businesses.
Which are the changes in the new Inheritance Law?
- The compulsory portion for direct descendants is reduced from 75% to 50%.
- Parents are no longer entitled to a compulsory portion in the event of the death of a child.
- Married couples can disinherit themselves before the divorce decree.
- The inheritance law for cohabiting couple still does not provide a regulation by law, but the situation of the spouse and registered partner remains unchanged.
- Pillar 3a savings are not counted as part of the estate.
Inheritance Law with holistic lawyer Dominique Calcò Labbruzzo
These new legal provisions allow for more freedom, but can also lead to discontent in families, especially in the process of divorce or in a business succession. The reason for it is that the freedom to have more assets available collides with the expectations of future heirs to receive a well-deserved inheritance. This is why, you should considering a holistic law approach. Consequently, I recommend that you speak openly about the matter with your family and I am at your disposal to discuss your will and the succession of your business.
A holistic resolution means that the counseling has the focus on the client wellbeing and family happiness. Find more about holistic law here.
You can contact me at 00 41 78 876 82 43 or write to me at calco@holistic-law.com
If you speak Italian, you can listen to my podcast about the holistic resolution in inheritance law.
Translation of the revised Law Text
Below you will find the new provisions of the law on the revision of the inheritance right of the Swiss Civil Code which will come into force from January 1st, 2023. I translated the text inheritance law text with deepl.com for you.
Art. 120 para. 2 and 3
2 Divorced spouses cease to be each other’s legitimate heirs.
3 Unless otherwise stipulated, the spouses cannot make claims for dispositions of property due to death:
- after divorce;
- after the death of one of them during a divorce procedure involving the loss of the legitimate portion of the surviving spouse.
Art. 216 para. 2 and 3
2 Participation in the increase exceeding half is not taken into consideration when determining the legitimate portions of the surviving spouse or registered partner, as well as of joint children and their descendants.
3 This convention must not affect the legitimate rights of uncommon children and their descendants.
Art. 217 para. 2
2 The same applies in the event of the death of one of the spouses during a divorce procedure involving the loss of the surviving spouse’s legitimate portion.
Art. 241 para. 4
4 Unless otherwise stipulated in the marriage contract, the change in the legal distribution does not apply in the event of the death of one of the spouses during a divorce proceeding involving the loss of the legitimate portion of the surviving spouse.
Art. 470 para. 1
1 Whoever dies leaving offspring, the spouse or registered partner can dispose of the part of his property in excess of their legitimate portion by cause of death.
Art. 471
The legitimate portion is half of the inheritance share.
Art. 472
1 In the event of the settlor’s death during a divorce proceeding, the surviving spouse loses the legitimate portion if:
1. the proceeding was initiated upon joint request or continued in accordance with the provisions on divorce upon joint request; or
2. the spouses have lived apart for at least two years.
2 In this case the legitimate portions are calculated as if the settlor had not been married.
3 Paragraphs 1 and 2 apply by analogy to the dissolution of the registered partnership.
Art. 473
1 Regardless of the use he makes of the available quota, the settlor may, through disposition due to death, leave to the surviving spouse or registered partner, together with the common descendants, the usufruct of all the portion that it would compete with the latter.
2 This usufruct takes the place of the legal inheritance share of the spouse or registered partner in concurrence with these descendants. In addition to this usufruct, the portion available is half of the succession.
3 By passing to other marriages or by establishing a registered partnership, the surviving spouse loses the usufruct of that part of the succession
which, at the time of the open succession, could not have been subject to usufruct according to the ordinary provisions on the legitimate descendants. This provision applies by analogy if the surviving registered partner forms a new registered partnership or marries.
Art. 476
1 The life insurance policies of the settlor, including those underwritten in the context of the restricted individual pension, established in favor of a third party with a deed between the living or with disposition due to death, and those that the settlor while living were transferred free of charge to a third party, they are calculated in the succession for the redemption value at the time of the settlor’s death.
2 Claims of beneficiaries arising from the deceased’s restricted individual pension with a banking foundation are also taken into account in the succession.
Art. 494 para. 3
3 Provisions due to death and donations between living beings, with the exception of customary gifts, may however be contested to the extent that:
- they are incompatible with the obligations deriving from the succession contract, in particular if they reduce the resulting benefits; and
- have not been subject to such contract.
Art. 522
1 The heirs who obtain an amount lower than their legitimate one can propose the reduction action, until the legitimate one is reinstated, against:
- purchases due to death resulting from the law;
- donations due to death; and
- donations among the living.
2 If a disposition of property upon death contains prescriptions regarding the shares of the individual legitimate heirs, these are to be regarded as mere prescriptions relating to the division, unless a different intention is apparent from the disposition itself.
Art. 523
Purchases due to death resulting from the law and donations due to death enjoyed by legitimate heirs can be reduced in proportion to the amount exceeding their legitimate one.
Art. 529
1 Life insurance policies of the settlor, including those underwritten as part of the restricted individual pension, established in favor of a third party with a deed between the living or with disposition upon death and those that the settlor living were transferred free of charge to a third party, are subject to the reduction action for their redemption value.
2 Beneficiaries’ claims arising from the deceased’s restricted individual pension with a banking foundation are also subject to reduction.
Art. 532
1 The reduction is subject to the reduction, in the following order, until the legitimate one is reinstated:
- purchases due to death resulting from the law;
- donations due to death;
- donations among the living.
2 The donations among living people are reduced in the following order:
1. donations granted by marriage agreement or property agreement which are taken into account for the calculation of the legitimate portions;
2. freely revocable donations and tied individual pension benefits, in the same proportion;
3. other donations, proceeding from the most recent to the most remote.