Inheriting Contracts in Switzerland

My father passed away recently and I chose to accept his estate. I am busy sorting out all the admin involved. One question I have is whether his contracts with third parties (i.e. utilities, rent, insurance, phone, his leased car, etc.) were automatically ended when he died. Is that the case? Or do I have to terminate or take over these contracts myself?

Hi there,

In Switzerland, most legally binding contracts are included in the estate of deceased individuals. That means that when heirs choose to accept an estate left to them, they accept responsibility for the legal contracts of the deceased.

Certain contracts remain in place until they are formally terminated by heirs in keeping with contract terms and notice periods. These include home rental contracts, loan agreements, contracts with contractors (construction or maintenance contracts), banking contracts, personal property insurance (including buildings insurance and car insurance) which is passed on to inheritors of personal property, utility contracts, telecom contracts, media subscriptions and some others. As the legal heir, the onus rests on you to either terminate these contracts or maintain them and pay the fees due.

Contracts for services which can only be accessed by the individual who signed up for them typically become invalid upon the death of that individual. These may include contracts for home-based care, club memberships, personal liability insurance policies, legal protection insurance policies and health insurance.

Some contracts are automatically terminated upon the death of the contractor, but come with special conditions attached. For example, if the deceased was employed at the time of their death, their employer is required to pay 1-month's wages to the legal heirs after their death. If the deceased was employed by their last employer for more than 5 years, the employer is required to pay out 2 monthly salaries to their legal heirs.

Best regards from Moneyguru

More on this topic:
Inheritance rules: Who is entitled to what in Switzerland