Inheritances & Legacies
Would you like to do some good beyond your own lifetime? By leaving a legacy to the Swiss AIDS Federation, you can help pave the way to effective prevention and support people with HIV and their families.
As well as making provisions for your loved ones and relatives, your Will can also benefit a charitable organisation such as the Swiss AIDS Federation. With this type of funding, we can take effective prevention measures to reduce transmission of the HIV virus, organise educational activities to break down prejudices, and offer legal advice for affected people if they suffer any discrimination.
The revised Swiss law on inheritance came into effect on 1st January 2023. This new inheritance law gives you the right to dispose freely of a large portion of your estate. The statutory inheritance portions remain unchanged. The mandatory share for any children is now half of the statutory inheritance portion (where it was previously ¾). The mandatory share for the surviving spouse remains unchanged. The mandatory share for parents no longer applies.
Click on the link shown below to create a no-obligation draft of a Will based on your own personal requirements.
You’ll be guided through the following stages:
- Identifying your heirs
- Establishing the relevant shares
- Writing the Will and storing it in a safe place
Click here for the Will template: Will-tool
Key questions:
The benefits of estate planning
Planning your estate ensures that, once you are gone, your last wishes are respected and your assets used as you think best. Your own wishes will govern how individuals and organisations are taken into consideration.
Definition of Legacy
A legacy or bequest is used to hand down a specific financial or tangible asset. Legacies are fixed before the inheritance is sub-divided, but this cannot be allowed to cause any infringement of the mandatory shares. The beneficiaries of legacies shall not be liable for any debts for which the Deceased is responsible.
Differences between a Will and a Contract of Inheritance
In a Will, the Testator alone determines what happens to all the assets. A Will can be created and revised freely, either by the Testator him/herself or by a Notary. In contrast, a Contract of Inheritance must always be authenticated by a Notary. As an Agreement between the Testator and the future heirs, a Contract of Inheritance can only be modified jointly by the partners to the contract. This offers security against any hasty reconsiderations by an individual party.
Heirs with protected mandatory shares
As long as you take the statutory mandatory shares into consideration, you are free to decide what is to happen to your assets in your Will. In exceptional cases, you are able to disinherit heirs with protected mandatory shares, e.g. if they have committed a serious offence against you, or if they have violated their obligations under family law. Should you have no heirs with protected mandatory shares, you can decide freely what is to happen to all of your assets.
What must be taken into consideration in a Will?
The formal requirements must be observed. The Will must be written by hand from beginning to end and include the location and date; it must also be undersigned at the end. The mandatory shares must not be violated. Only the freely-available proportion can be used according to your own wishes. You should keep your handwritten Will in a place that is safe and easy to find (stored with someone you trust, or a solicitor or the local authority).
If I leave a legacy or an inheritance to the Swiss AIDS Federation, will it be subject to any deduction of inheritance tax?
No. As a recognised charitable organisation, the Swiss AIDS Federation is exempt from inheritance tax. Your donations and any bequests you make under inheritance law will flow directly into our projects.