Revision of inheritance law

Since 2015, the Federal Council has been planning to revise the law of succession. Like other laws, the law of succession is no longer adapted to current social realities. The current law of succession came into force about 100 years ago. The revision plans to modernize inheritance law by adapting it to the digital future and increasing the self-determination of the testator.

In the first message of the Federal Council, the self-determination of the testator was addressed. Certain compulsory shares are too high and no longer adequately represent modern social structures. The compulsory portion of the children should be reduced from three quarters to half. The compulsory portion of the parents should even be dropped completely. The share for spouses, registered partners and de facto partnerships remains unchanged. In summary, the revision will result in a larger proportion of the testator’s estate being available without any dispositions. This will enable him/her to benefit various persons more. 

In the second message of the Federal Council to the Parliament, technical points as well as the succession regulation in family businesses were addressed. With the legal situation today, it often happens that a family business is fragmented in the inheritance dispute. For purely economic reasons, this often leads to poor development in the business. Likewise, high payments to heirs who are protected by the compulsory portion of the inheritance are the result.

An important technical change will be that an emergency will will also be accepted as video in the future. This is once again an adaptation to technological progress. In addition, various minor changes will be made to clarify estate planning and the division of estates.

In summary, the following changes are to be regarded as essential.

• Compulsory portions of the testator’s parents are abolished.
• Compulsory portions of the descendants of the testator are reduced from three quarters of the claim to a second part.
• Factual life partners are still not entitled to legal support.
• If the testator granted a usufruct to the spouse in relation to the joint descendants, the freely available quota was increased to a second part in addition to the usufruct.
• In the case of a divorce between two spouses, the right to a compulsory portion is lost when the divorce petition becomes legally binding.

Wills and inheritance contracts that were already valid before the planned revision remain valid after the revision. However, it is advisable to adjust the estate planning after the revision under certain circumstances.