Inheritance / Question 2
How much can I leave to whom I choose?
What the compulsory shares leave over: the disposable share. For a person survived by a spouse and children, it has been half the estate since 1 January 2023, where it was three-eighths before. A person with no descendants, spouse or registered partner can leave the whole estate as they choose.
Antevo Wealth+ · Several households and entities, with beneficiaries and the estate structure mapped
01 / The arithmetic
Half, in most families.
Take a person survived by a spouse and children. By law, each side inherits half. (ZGB Art. 462) The compulsory share of each is half of that, a quarter of the estate. (ZGB Art. 471) Together they protect half; the other half is free.
Until the end of 2022 the children’s compulsory share was three quarters of their statutory share, so only three-eighths of the estate was free. With no descendants, spouse or registered partner, there is no compulsory share at all. (ZGB Art. 470; AS 2021 312)
See how Wealth+ maps an estate02 / In writing
A will or a contract.
A will can be made as a public deed, in handwriting or orally. (ZGB Art. 498) A handwritten will is written by hand from start to finish, dated with day, month and year, and signed. (ZGB Art. 505) A public will is made before a notary or another authorised official and two witnesses. (ZGB Art. 499)
An inheritance contract takes the same form as a public will. (ZGB Art. 512) An heir who receives less than the compulsory share can ask for the dispositions to be reduced. (ZGB Art. 522)
See how Wealth+ maps an estate03 / What counts
More than the account balances.
Since 2023, claims from restricted pension savings (pillar 3a) with a bank foundation count towards the estate when the disposable share is worked out. (ZGB Art. 476) They can be reduced, like a gift, where they breach a compulsory share. (ZGB Art. 529)
The fractions apply to everything the estate holds: portfolios, property, private holdings and the company. A notary or a lawyer confirms what a given will can do.
See how Wealth+ maps an estate04 / In Antevo
See what the half is made of.
A fraction is only as clear as the estate behind it. Antevo Wealth+ maps several households and entities, with the beneficiaries and the estate structure, beside portfolios, property and private holdings. The will itself is for you and your notary.
See how Wealth+ maps an estateSources
Where this comes from.
The published estimate behind the figure and the primary sources for every legal point: the Civil Code and the Code of Obligations on fedlex.admin.ch, the Federal Office of Justice, the Federal Tax Administration, the Federal Chancellery, the Swiss Parliament and the IPI. Intelligence, not advice: nothing here is legal or tax advice. A notary or a lawyer confirms what a will, a contract or an estate requires.