What you have built and protected throughout your life matters
You would like to plan your estate
Our law firm specializes in family law. Our members have handled thousands of cases—both amicable and contentious—and managed countless situations that can arise during these procedures.
This extensive experience allows us to clearly explain which approaches succeed and which ones don't.
Estate and succession planning begins with your wishes and helps you find the best ways to fulfill them. We can often explore multiple options to achieve your goals. When legal or tax constraints limit these options, we ensure your chosen approach remains viable and effective.
Planning ahead helps avoid arbitrary outcomes and ensures smoother, more predictable life events. This core principle applies to all pre-nuptial agreements, post-nuptial agreements, and wills. We guide you through these processes while making certain your wishes remain legally protected under any circumstances.
We offer a balanced assessment of your rights and obligations. For any uncertainties, we work to measure their impact and provide you with a clear path forward.
Is it possible to write a will that only covers assets located in Switzerland?
- Yes, under Swiss law. Compatibility with the country of residence is systematically verified through specialized local attorneys.
- It is even possible to choose a partial election of Swiss law for certain reasons provided for by Swiss law.
Is it possible to subject your will to foreign law even if you are domiciled in Switzerland?
- In principle yes, if you have the nationality of the country concerned.
- The law changes on January 1st, 2025. It will become easier for foreigners to choose foreign law even if they have Swiss nationality. Thus, the new Art. 91 LDIP provides that a person can subject their succession by will or inheritance pact to the law of one of their national States. The testator must have had the nationality in question either at the time of making the disposition or at the time of death. However Swiss citizens cannot deviate from Swiss law provisions regarding the forced heirship portion.
What are the rules regarding forced heirship?
- The rules underwent a drastic change with the new inheritance law that came into force in January 2023. The forced heirship portion is now reduced to half of the statutory share for children and spouse. The parents' forced heirship has been eliminated.
- With this clarification, Swiss law does not automatically invalidate a will in case of violation of forced heirship rules. Proper legal advice can in practice give you good chances of significantly increasing your room for maneuver.
Selected professionals
Magda Kulik frequently drafts testamentary provisions for her clients and works with Geneva's best tax experts to achieve exactly the result intended by the testator. Placing paramount importance on respecting her clients' choices, she defends them particularly strongly, for example in the context of testamentary execution.
Damien Hottelier is a professional in family law and its tax implications, making him a first-rate choice for establishing or coordinating estate planning projects. He has also worked as an attorney in numerous inheritance litigation cases, giving him practical insight into the scope of choices and decisive arguments that ultimately prevailed in judicially contested inheritances. His view is therefore particularly tactical for implementing testators' choices.
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