Who inherits without a will in Switzerland?

The spouse and the children inherit shares together

In Switzerland the spouse takes half and the children share the other half; with no children the spouse takes three quarters or all.

Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

The default, not your case. This page describes what applies when there is no valid will. Succession law is reformed often, a will changes everything, and the rules for an estate with a foreign element are complex. This is general information, not legal advice.

A spouse and children survive

The spouse (or registered partner) takes one half and the children share the other half.

A spouse survives, but no children

With the parents and their descendants the spouse takes three quarters. With the grandparents' line the spouse takes three quarters as well. With no heirs from those lines the spouse takes the whole estate.

No spouse: who comes next

Children first. If there are none, the parents and their descendants, then the grandparents and their descendants. If no one is found, the estate passes to the canton or the municipality.

A partner who is not married

Registered partners are treated like spouses. An unmarried partner has no right to inherit without a will.

What a will cannot take away

The children and the spouse each have a reserved share of half of what they would inherit by law. The parents' reserved share was abolished in 2023.

If the person or the property is abroad

Switzerland does not take part in the EU Succession Regulation. Swiss law generally applies to the estate of a person who died with their last domicile in Switzerland.

Understand the legal system first

Switzerland belongs to the Civil law family. Succession law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.

Read the Switzerland legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Switzerland? →

Official sources

Fedlex: the Swiss Civil Code

TheLawToKnow Tools’s inheritance guide is an educational overview of general rules. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the official source or a lawyer in the country. Report a mistake.