Hello
I know the Swiss inheritance law insists on compulsory heirs. What are the percentages? I have been told that the surviving spouse inherits one half of the estate, any kids one quarter of the estate and one quarter is free to be left to someone of choice (example the surviving spouse). Also a life interest can be left for the surviving spouse so the kids cannot throw her out of the property and she is free to stay until she dies.

I am from England and used to spouse inherits everything. I am married to a Swiss guy who has money hungery children from a previous marriage. I need to know how i may be affected.

I am really interested in what the Swiss inheritance law is on property held abroad eg Spain. Spanish law allows a will to be held under ones own nationality. But English law (my nationality) will bounce it back to Spain saying the property is an immoveable asset and will come under Spanish law. Which is even worse than Swiss law, two thirds going to the kids. Will Swiss law say the property must be divided up under the law of the country where it is situated or under the Swiss will that has been written?

Thank you for any help you can provide.

i guess the best way is to consult a lawyer specializing in inheritance law...
i found this site...

http://www.m-recht.ch/Rechtsberatung/Erbgang.html

it says 50% to spouse and 50% to children that is when no will and testament is available.....

Thank you for the web site info. I cannot read german but I will print it out for my husband.

Consult an expert on this. My wife is Swiss with one child from a previous marriage and I have two English children so the situation could get very complicated.

We consulted a lawyer and signed a « Pacte successorale » which our children agreed to. They waived their right under Swiss law and instead agreed to accept our testament.

If you have property in Spain then this is obviously a further complication.

Remember also that you could come within the scope of UK Inheritance tax if the Revenue are not satisfied that you have established a domocile of choice outside the UK.

As far as I can remember the normal case is actually that the children share 50% of the estate among themselves and the spouse gets the other 50%.

Now with regards to the "Pflichtteil" (or the compulsory amount that has to be given to heirs), it is as follows:

• 75% of the 50% share of the children (=37.5%) and
• 50% of the 50% share of the spouse (=25%)

The remaining amount (37.5%) is then free to be given away at the discretion of the deceased. Hmmm.. sounds complicated!!! Note that should this said "Pflichtteil" be violated, for example so that the surviving spouse could continue living in the matrimonial house ("Nutzniessung"), this should be executed through a (prior) testimony.

Note that the given information above is from someone without expertise with the Swiss law & based solely on some lectures attended in Swiss ZGB. It would be at your best interest to consult a lawyer.

(Brownie was faster )

This link is in German but it's a good list with links to the relevant inheritance laws and descriptions of the common scenarios, with piecharts.

Wait, What if everything is owned by both spouses?? I.e. If both me & my husband own the house, cars? Do the children get 37% of half or 37% of everything?
Also, to avoid money grubbing children from a first marriage, can the parent of the money grubbers give everything to their (second) spouse, ie. put everything in their name?
(this is all theoretical, I'm just curious really).

when both spouses own the properties children get (Pflichtteil) 37.5% of 50%. theoretically the spouse could get everything but since this is a violation of the Pflichtteil it should be executed as a Last Will & Testament (they call "Verfuegungen von Todes Wegen" with all the legal formalities properly done) and the children (the ones whose Pflichtteil would be violated) must be in agreement (they must sign that they give-up all the rights whatsover to the estate & that has to be executed it with all the legal formalities involved!!) with this testament also.

of course, i'm not an expert on this..

Hello again

If the property is jointly owned 50% each and the children belong to the husband by a previous marriage. Surely they only have a right to his 50% share of the property as the other half has nothing to do with them.

So if 50% share of the husbands 50% of the property goes to the wife (25%) and 50% goes to the children ( who are actually grown men) again 25% of the original 50%. Then the husband can still take this 'give to whoever percentage' to his spouse. Does it still work on the percentages 75% of the 25% share given to children (18.75% they keep?) spouse gets her half share of husbands half (25%) and the extra share (6.25%)at his discretion?

God this is confusing.

If only it was that easy. I have stayed out of this intentionally but there is much more to this than the simple description given by Brownie which is basically correct. There are also considerations as to when the asset came into the family, whether as part of the estate there is bequests from previously etc etc etc. And each of these things is determined separately. Any property outside of the country can be covered under Swiss law but must not be ie it needs to be explicitly included in the estate.

The best advice has been stated multiple times - get a lawyer well versed in these matters there are many but I would recommend

Buchli Steve
044 296 90 00
stephan.buchli@buchli-hochuli.ch

He speaks fluent English.
Tell him I sent you.

Richard

Yes, I actually meant that the Pflichtteil is 37.5% of the 50% of the 50% (= each spouse share of the 100%). And yes you got it right with the percent that the children should get (=18.75%) and the 6.25% at the husband's discretion.

How do you know everything?

Thank you Richard. I know it will all have to be sorted out with a lawyer. I just needed a rough guideline. At the moment by husband as a property here in Switzerland. We are looking to sell this property and buy another property together which may or may not be in Switzerland, hence the question about Swiss law over property in another country. My husband will have the opportunity to change jobs in a years time (earlier retirement 58! but wishes to continue to fly). Of course I will contribute my share of the cash to this new venture (ok may be a little less than my husband but near enough). I need to protect my asset from his grown up children and god forbid if anything happened to my husband i need to know if his sons can force me out of my own property. As I am younger than my husband and women normally live longer, a girl needs to think about these things. I know the best countries to go to in this regard are common law followers like England, USA, Australia, etc. And I would love to go to them but then there is the problem of getting Green Card!
Thank you to all that offered advice.

You were a very good teacher thats how...

You should change your nickname to "mukhtar-jum"

Are you turning into a JamesK?

Hopefully not...

What about a US citizen domiciled in Switzerland.

What is the compulsory share for a child?

What for grandchildren?

How is real property held in Switzerland handled?

Can the real property be transferred during life time to one child or grandchild? If that happens is it recaptured for compulsory shares?