Switzerland Inheritance Law: Wills, the 2023 Reform and Cantonal Tax
Switzerland's inheritance law sits in one federal code, the Zivilgesetzbuch or ZGB, but a full picture of how an estate actually gets handled needs two more things most visitors do not expect. The rules a will can and cannot override were substantially rewritten in a reform that took effect 1 January 2023, and whatever an heir owes in tax on what they receive is set entirely by the canton, not the federal government. This hub is the starting point for our Swiss inheritance coverage, which goes into each of those pieces in depth.
Information last verified on 21 July 2026. This page provides general legal information about Swiss law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.
What makes Swiss inheritance law structurally different
Two things distinguish Switzerland from many of its neighbors on this topic. The first is that inheritance tax has no federal layer whatsoever. Every canton sets its own rules, and they differ enough that the same estate can owe nothing in one canton and a real tax bill in another.
The second is how recently the substantive rules changed. A reform effective 1 January 2023 rewrote who is guaranteed a fixed share of an estate and how much a person can direct freely by will, and a great deal of older content, in German and in English, still describes the rules as they stood before that date.
A federal estate tax was rejected in 2025
Voters rejected a federal inheritance-tax initiative on 30 November 2025, so the cantonal patchwork described above remains the whole picture. Our page on inheritance tax by canton sets out what the initiative would have done and what the result leaves in place.
Which authority actually handles a Swiss estate
An estate does not go through a single dedicated inheritance court. The cantonal Erbschaftsamt or Erbschaftsbehörde handles the administrative side, including sealing the estate and issuing the Erbenschein, the certificate heirs use to access bank accounts and register property in their name.
A genuine dispute between heirs, over the validity of a will or the size of a compulsory share, goes to the ordinary civil courts instead. It starts at a cantonal court of first instance and, on a question of federal law, can run all the way up to the Bundesgericht in Lausanne.
The five questions this cluster answers
Our Swiss inheritance coverage is organized around five specific questions instead of one long overview. Each page below goes into the depth this hub does not attempt.
What changed in the 2023 reform answers which compulsory shares fell, by how much, and for which family shape. The commonly repeated shorthand does not hold for every family, and the page is built specifically to correct it.
Writing a will in Switzerland answers how to make a valid will and what actually invalidates a handwritten one. It also covers what happens when no will exists at all.
Inheritance tax by canton answers which of the 26 cantons tax a direct descendant's inheritance and which exempt it entirely. This is the one place in Swiss inheritance law where cantonal variation genuinely matters.
The executor's role answers what a named Willensvollstrecker must do and what they are entitled to be paid. It also covers where their legal liability actually comes from.
Advance inheritances answers how a lifetime gift to a future heir gets accounted for once the estate is eventually divided. The rule differs depending on whether the recipient is a descendant or another kind of heir.
How the ZGB and the cantons divide the work
Nearly everything about who inherits, in what shares, and under what will forms is federal law, set in the ZGB and identical whether the estate is in Geneva or St. Gallen. A will valid in one canton is valid in all of them, and a child's compulsory share is calculated the same way everywhere in the country.
Tax is the exception. Whether an heir owes anything on what they receive, and how much, depends entirely on the canton where the deceased was domiciled, and the difference between cantons can be the entire tax bill, not just its size.
Where to start
A reader dealing with an actual estate right now usually starts in one of two places. Someone drafting their own will should start with writing a will, then check the current compulsory share limits on the 2023 reform page before deciding how much to direct elsewhere.
Someone administering an estate that already exists should start with the executor's role if one was named, and check inheritance tax by canton for what the heirs will actually owe. This page sits inside our wider guide to Swiss law, which covers the codes, courts and institutions behind all of it.
Someone who has just learned they may be an heir, with no will in sight, should not assume the intestate default automatically applies before checking further. Cantons are required to accept a deposited holograph will for safekeeping, so a document naming different beneficiaries can exist even if none of the heirs have seen it yet, a possibility our writing a will page explains from the drafting side.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does this site have a whole page just about cantonal tax?
Because there is no single Swiss answer. The tax is levied by cantons rather than by the Confederation, so the bill on the same bequest differs enormously depending on where the deceased was resident. The cantonal page sets out what could be confirmed canton by canton, and is explicit about the few rates that could not.
Which page should I read first?
If you are writing or revising a will, start with the page on writing a will. If you already have one made before 2023, start with the reform page, because the shares it can validly cut into have changed. If you are an heir working out what a bequest will cost you, start with the cantonal tax page.
What forms of will does Switzerland recognize?
A fully handwritten holograph will, a public will made before an official or notary with two witnesses, and an oral emergency will available only in genuinely extraordinary circumstances.
Do I need a notary, or can I write a will myself?
Swiss law recognises a fully handwritten will, so a valid one can be written without any professional involvement. Whether that is wise is a separate question, and the page on writing a will sets out the formal requirements and the situations where a notary is the safer route.
Which of these pages covers what happens after a death, rather than before it?
The executor page and the advance-inheritance page both deal with administration and with lifetime transfers that come back into account at the estate. The reform and will pages deal with planning while the testator is alive.
Does a gift I received during a parent's lifetime affect my inheritance later?
Often yes, if you are a descendant. A lifetime gift to a descendant is presumed to count against that descendant's eventual share unless the person who gave it said otherwise in writing.
Do all 26 cantons tax an inheritance the same way?
No. Most cantons exempt direct descendants from inheritance tax entirely, two cantons levy no inheritance tax on anyone, and a handful of cantons tax descendants above a substantial allowance.
Sources and References
- Art. 470 ZGB, Wegfall des Pflichtteils der Eltern(fedlex.admin.ch).gov
- Art. 471 ZGB, einheitlicher Pflichtteil von der Hälfte des gesetzlichen Erbanspruchs(fedlex.admin.ch).gov
- Art. 505 ZGB, die eigenhändige letztwillige Verfügung(fedlex.admin.ch).gov
- Art. 499 ZGB, die öffentliche letztwillige Verfügung(fedlex.admin.ch).gov
- Art. 457 ZGB, Erbrecht der Nachkommen(fedlex.admin.ch).gov
- Art. 462 ZGB, Erbanspruch des überlebenden Ehegatten oder eingetragenen Partners(fedlex.admin.ch).gov
- Art. 517 ZGB, Ernennung und Vergütung des Willensvollstreckers(fedlex.admin.ch).gov
- Art. 626 ZGB, Ausgleichungspflicht bei Zuwendungen unter Lebenden(fedlex.admin.ch).gov
- ESTV/SSK, Erbschafts- und Schenkungssteuern (Stand der Gesetzgebung: 1. Januar 2025)(estv2.admin.ch).gov