Succession law
Arranging your estate during your lifetime avoids most disputes. And when a relative dies, the notary guides the heirs through the formalities, from the certificate of inheritance to the final division.
What we do
- Estate planning advice
- Public wills and deposit of wills
- Inheritance agreements (pacte successoral)
- Gifts and advances on inheritance
- Certificates of inheritance
- Estate inventories
- Estate division and division agreements
- Execution of wills
- Usufruct and legacies
How it works
- 01
Map the situation
Who your statutory heirs are, what your estate consists of, and what you want: to protect your spouse, favour a child, hand over a business, support a cause.
- 02
Choose the instruments
Will, inheritance agreement, gift, marriage contract, insurance: each has its effects and its limits. We combine those that serve your objective.
- 03
Draft and sign
We draft the documents and see to their signature. A public will is then deposited, so that it can neither be lost nor set aside.
- 04
Review over time
A marriage, a birth, a divorce, the purchase of a property: all are moments worth revisiting the file.
What is useful to bring
- Identity documents and family record book
- The marriage contract, if there is one
- A list of assets and liabilities
- Any earlier wills or inheritance agreements
- For an open estate: the death certificate and the heirs’ contact details
Estimating the cost of a property transaction
The Swiss Federation of Notaries provides an online estimator giving a first order of magnitude for property transactions. For a figure matched to your own file, call us.
Open the estimatorFAQ
Handwritten will or public will?
A will written entirely by hand, dated and signed, is valid. A public will, executed before a notary, adds two guarantees: its formal validity is assured, and it is deposited so that it can neither disappear nor be challenged on formal grounds.
How much of my estate can I dispose of freely?
Since the reform of Swiss succession law that came into force on 1 January 2023, the statutory entitlement of descendants has been reduced to half of their legal share and that of parents abolished. The portion you may dispose of freely is therefore appreciably larger.
A relative has just died. Where do we start?
Call us. We will establish what is urgent, such as locating a will, the certificate of inheritance, access to accounts or the deadline for renouncing the estate, and what can wait. Most steps follow a set order, and there is no need to tackle everything at once.
This page sets out the general framework applicable in the Canton of Vaud. It is not a substitute for advice tailored to your circumstances, so do call us to discuss your situation.
A question, a project?
A first meeting serves to establish your situation and tell you what is possible. Call or write to us and we will come back to you promptly.