If you own a property and would like to leave it to your children or other heirs, you should get to grips with inheritance issues at an early stage. That’s the only way to prevent the property from having to be sold after it is inherited, to allow all heirs to receive their share.
Are you concerned about your estate and want to know that your house or apartment is in good hands after your death? If possible, in the hands of your own family? To avoid inheritance disputes, you should take care of your estate while you are still alive. Leaving a will makes this very easy. But what are the stumbling blocks when bequeathing or inheriting property? Our inheritance guide provides detailed information about the succession system, forced heirship and taxation issues.
If you want to leave your property to joint heirs or to an individual heir, you can specify this in your will. But take care: forced heirship and the succession system must also be taken into account and cannot simply be circumvented.
The succession system regulates the line of succession of all heirs except for your spouse, as they receive preferential treatment. For example, children and grandchildren are first in line to inherit. If there are no descendants, parents and their descendants are second in line to inherit.
A revision of inheritance law is planned for 2023, which will eliminate forced heirship for parents and reduce that of children. This will give testators more room for manoeuvre. More information is available in our inheritance guide.
Intestate succession is clearly regulated and, together with the succession system and forced heirship, determines who inherits what. If you want to decide for yourself what happens to your estate within the limits of the law, you need to take responsibility for testate succession and make a will.
In many cases, inheritance disputes arise despite the presence of a will because forced heirship issues are not taken into consideration or the surviving spouse has a right to reside in the property. If the property is then sold, there are various costs that need to be taken into account.
Capital gains tax varies from canton to canton. This tax is borne solely by the seller(s). The canton where the property is located is responsible for calculating the tax. You can find detailed information on this here.
Property transfer tax also varies from canton to canton and must be paid for every property transfer – even if no profit is made. In addition, you will also have to pay notary fees when selling, 50% of which are usually borne by the seller(s).
Are you unsure how to proceed? Are you a joint heir and considering selling a property? We will advise you on all the issues and refer you to relevant experts if required. Get in touch. We’ll be happy to help!
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