Secure Your Family's Future with a Last Will and Testament

Drafting a Last Will and Testament is the single most important step you can take to protect your family's future and ensure your final wishes are respected.

In Switzerland, if you pass away without a valid will, your estate is automatically distributed according to statutory succession laws. This means the government dictates exactly who inherits your assets, which often does not align with your personal wishes. By creating a legally binding will, you take back control.

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Why Do I Need a Will in Switzerland?

Under Swiss inheritance law, certain family members (like your spouse and children) are entitled to a "compulsory portion" of your estate. However, beyond these strict legal minimums, you have the freedom to distribute the rest of your assets (the "freely disposable portion") exactly as you see fit.
A Last Will and Testament allows you to:

• Protect an unmarried partner : Without a will, a cohabiting partner (concubine) inherits absolutely nothing under Swiss law.
• Support charities : Leave a portion of your wealth to causes you care about.
• Appoint an Executor : Legally designate a trusted individual to manage the complex administrative process of distributing your estate.
• Prevent family disputes : Clear, documented instructions drastically reduce the chance of expensive and painful legal battles among heirs.

Capacity to Make a Will

To write a legally valid will in Switzerland, you must be at least 18 years old and capable of discernment (of sound mind) at the time of writing it.

Crucial Legal Requirement: The Holographic Will

Please be aware that simply printing out a typed document and signing it is not legally valid in Switzerland unless it is notarized. To create a valid "Holographic Will" (Eigenhändiges Testament) for free, Swiss law (Art. 505 ZGB) strictly requires that the entire document must be written by hand. You must use our template as a guide, and copy the text word-for-word onto a blank piece of paper using your own handwriting. You must also include the exact date (day, month, year) and your signature by hand.

Understanding Forced Heirship (Pflichtteile) in Switzerland

Swiss law does not give you complete freedom to distribute your estate however you like. Certain close family members are legally protected and entitled to a minimum share, no matter what your will says. On 1 January 2023, Switzerland significantly reformed these rules — the biggest change to Swiss inheritance law in over a century — giving testators considerably more freedom than before. If you've seen an older guide or template, it may still reflect the outdated pre-2023 figures.

Since the reform, the following applies:

• Children and grandchildren: entitled to one half (1/2) of what they would have received under normal statutory succession (previously three-quarters).
• Spouse or registered partner: entitled to one half (1/2) of their statutory share.
• Parents: no longer have any forced share at all — this protection was fully abolished in 2023.
• Siblings, unmarried partners, friends: have no automatic entitlement under Swiss law — if you want to leave them anything, your will is the only way to do it.

A worked example: Say you're married with two children. Under normal statutory succession, your spouse would receive half your estate and your two children would split the other half between them. Applying the forced-share rules, your spouse's protected minimum works out to a quarter of your estate, and each child's protected minimum works out to an eighth. That leaves half of your entire estate as your freely disposable portion — money and assets you can leave to anyone you choose: a charity, a friend, an unmarried partner, or simply additional shares to your spouse or children.

The exact numbers depend on which family members survive you and, if you're married, on your matrimonial property regime, which is settled before the inheritance itself is calculated. If your situation isn't a straightforward single-marriage case with only shared children, it's worth having a notary confirm the figures before you finalise your will.

Revocation and Modification

You can change or revoke your will at any time. To revoke it, you can physically destroy the document (e.g., by tearing it up) or write a new will that explicitly states it revokes and replaces all previous testamentary dispositions.

Where and How to Store Your Will Safely

A perfectly valid will is worthless if nobody can find it after you're gone. Switzerland doesn't legally require you to register your will, but it's strongly recommended.

• Deposit the original with a notary or cantonal authority: they'll keep it safe and can register that it exists. Deposit fees vary by canton, typically somewhere between CHF 25 and CHF 200.
• Register it in the Central Will Register (ZTR): ask your notary to record your will's existence and location in Switzerland's central register, for a modest additional fee (usually around CHF 25–30). This doesn't reveal the contents of your will to anyone — only that one exists and where to find it, so it can be located after your death.
• Avoid making multiple copies: if you later update or revoke your will, old copies left lying around can cause confusion and delay for your heirs, since any will that's found has to be formally opened by the authorities.

Secure yourself legally during your lifetime as well, by creating an Advance Healthcare Directive in addition to your Last Will.