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Unmarried couples or unregistered partners should proactively consider their partner's benefits and make the necessary arrangements. We are happy to assist you with this.
The following remarks are not exhaustive but aim to highlight the most important aspects that should be taken into account in the event of death. In the following text, unmarried couples and unregistered partners will be referred to as "partners." For simplicity, only the masculine form will be used.
The surviving partner does not have a legal right to inheritance in the event of the partner's death. This will not change with the upcoming revision of the law. Therefore, if you want your partner to inherit something, you must make an express provision in your estate planning. This can be done through a will or a succession agreement. A will can be made either in handwritten form or in a publicly notarized form, while a succession agreement must be publicly notarized.
If you do not make a provision for inheritance, or if you do not dispose of parts of your estate, the legal succession rules will apply. According to these rules, the nearest heirs are the descendants. If there are no descendants, the estate goes to the parental line (the so-called second parentel), meaning to the parents or their descendants (siblings, nieces, and nephews, etc.). If neither descendants nor heirs from the parental line exist, the inheritance will go to the grandparents' line (grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, etc.). If you have a spouse, they also have a legal share of the inheritance, which they must share with any descendants or heirs from the parental line. If only heirs from the grandparents' line are present, according to the legal rules of succession, the entire estate goes to the spouse. If there are no descendants, heirs from the parental or grandparents' line, or a spouse, the inheritance goes to the community. A "mere" partner is not considered in the legal succession.
Under Swiss law, there are certain persons entitled to a reserved portion (Pflichtteile). Currently, these are descendants (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.), spouses, and parents. If you have no descendants and no spouse, or if these individuals and your parents have predeceased you, you do not need to consider reserved portions. In this case, you can freely dispose of your entire estate. However, be aware that if you do not make a provision, the legal succession (as outlined above) will apply.
In principle, a provision can be made without consideration for reserved portions. However, this carries the risk that the person entitled to a reserved portion may contest the provision or assert a reduction in court.
It is conceivable that persons entitled to a reserved portion might waive their claim to the reserved portion within the framework of a succession agreement (known as an inheritance waiver) in favor of the partner or unconditionally.
With the upcoming revision of inheritance law, the reserved portions of descendants are to be reduced, and those of parents abolished.
The ways in which the partner can be favored are diverse and depend on the individual case. This can range from a simple testamentary provision to very complex arrangements, depending on the situation.
It should be noted that cohabiting partners are taxed in many cantons as if they were third parties, significantly burdening the inheritance with tax. In some cantons, a reduced tax rate applies to cohabiting partners, while in others, the partner is even exempt from inheritance tax. This depends on the canton of the deceased partner’s last residence. Additionally, different requirements exist in various cantons regarding the duration and intensity of the partnership to qualify for a tax reduction.
Many pension funds (second pillar) provide for the partner to be named as the beneficiary for a pension or a one-time death benefit from the pension fund. Typically, a beneficiary designation must be made during the partner's lifetime. It is important to note that this designation must be made in different forms depending on the pension fund, and different requirements must also be met. Generally, a cohabitation relationship must have existed for several years for a beneficiary designation to be possible. The pension fund’s regulations provide information on this.
For third pillar insurance, a designation may be possible even without a multi-year cohabitation. Typically, these will involve mixed life insurance policies with a surrender value. The surrender value is considered part of the estate, which is not the case with the second pillar.
Moreover, a life insurance policy (third pillar) presents a good opportunity for benefit designation. If it is a pure risk insurance policy, the insurance benefit is not included in the estate (thus not increasing the share of the heirs entitled to a reserved portion). If it is a mixed insurance policy, the surrender value is again considered part of the estate and thus increases the share of the heirs entitled to a reserved portion.
Lucerne, January 27, 2021
Simeon Beeler