In the event of a fatal accident, a decision must be made about tissue and organ harvesting. If it affects you personally, you are no longer able to express your will. Have you recorded your opinion in writing? Are your relatives informed? Otherwise, they will have to make a far-reaching decision under stress. This is often perceived as a burden.… Read More »Day of organ donation
The testator, born in 1957, adopted by Germans as an adult in 1990, made a will by public deed to dispose his property to his natural Polish parents in 1991. In addition, he made a holographic will in 1998 according to which AA or PA were entitled to designate his savings as well as assets in Switzerland and Germany according… Read More »No Delegation
Active, self-determined estate planning Have you made your own arrangements for your estate? Are you fully utilizing your options? Swiss law determines who will inherit and how much if you remain inactive. How much your legal heirs (blood relatives, surviving spouse) will receive (so-called inheritance quota) depends on your family circumstances. A distinction is made whether you are single or… Read More »Proportional right to an inheritance
Who will inherit you if you remain inactive? If you die intestate, without a will or inheritance contract (aka contract of succession) (so-called testamentary disposition upon death), the statutory succession applies. The law determines who will inherit you (so-called legal or statutory heirs) and with what share (so-called inheritance quota). The revised inheritance law does not affect the statutory succession… Read More »Legal / statutory heirs
Do works of art in a Swiss estate count as household effects or as an asset? What are the tax consequences? An art collection may qualify as tax-exempt household goods or taxable investment / asset in Switzerland. Critieria The decisive factors may be the ratio of the value of the art objects to the total assets, the type of insurance… Read More »Works of art as household effects or as an asset
The grandmother gifted the painting to her niece, and she sold the house to her grandson under a reservation clause. C was the owner of a house with art works, including a painting by the Swiss artist Carigiet. She gifted her niece B this painting by a written contract dated 20 January 2006. The painting remained in the house, as… Read More »Whom does a valuable painting in a house belong to?
A testator grants his housekeeper, who lives with him, the usufruct of the residential house in his will. The housekeeper reounses the usufruct. A right of use has an objective value: the property can be lived in or rented out to third parties. The usufructuary receives the rental income and bears the expenses (ordinary maintenance, mortgage interest, taxes, duties and… Read More »Waiver of the usufruct of the residential house
Do you transfer your property to your children ahead of time and retain (as the donor) a right of residence? Granting of a right of residence If the deceased was married, the surviving spouse may, even without a will, demand the allocation of the jointly occupied dwelling which does not belong to him or her to be set off against… Read More »Real estate and right of residence
Today is the United Nations’ International Day of older persons. The question may arise as to whether you are capable of making a will despite serious illness. Are you seriously ill and wish to provide for your loved ones? The testator developed cancer and died of it in December 2014. Prior to this, he registered his partnership with C in… Read More »Testator’s capacity and serious illness
Today is world patient safety day. Medication and treament errors are often preventable, as is malicious influence or legacy hunting. Bequest, last will and testament A nurse unworthy of inheriting shall not acquire anything by a testamentary disposition. A nursing professional cared for a single woman from May 1997 until her death in 2015. The so-called testatrix bequeathed a property… Read More »Malicious influence or legacy hunting
