Missing person: What happens to assets?

My father went missing while he was traveling in Asia and neither police nor private investigators have been able to find any trace of him. We suspect that he is dead. What will happen to his bank accounts, pension fund and other assets now?

That depends on the exact situation. In the case of inheritances, the waiting period before the distribution of assets depends on whether the missing person is simply out of contact (all communication lost, for example), or whether there is an outstanding reason to believe that they may be dead (visiting a town when it was struck by a tsunami, for example).

Stage 1: If there is evidence to support a death, you can apply to have the person designated as missing after 12 months from the time of their disappearance. If no evidence exists, you must wait for 5 years from the time they go missing before you can apply to have them declared missing.

Stage 2: After an application is made to change a person’s status to “missing”, a search period is initiated during which a court of law can call on people who could provide evidence of the missing person’s whereabouts. This search period lasts up to 12 months. If the missing person or their mortal remains are not discovered during this search period, the person will officially be declared as missing.

Stage 3: After a person has been declared missing, inheritance procedures can begin. But there is a catch: heirs must provide securities against any inheritances received until certain waiting periods have expired.

In other words, the missing person’s assets can be divided among their heirs in keeping with Swiss inheritance law (special distribution procedures apply to pillar 2 retirement assets), but only if heirs can guarantee that they can repay the assets in full if the missing person shows up alive.

The period over which securities must be provided are 5 years from the time assets are transferred if there is solid evidence indicating a death. This period is 15 years from the last sign of life (the time the person was first reported missing) if there is no evidence to support death.

Stage 4: After these waiting periods, ownership of assets is fully transferred to heirs and no longer needs to be secured.

Verdict:

Depending on the circumstances, assets may only become fully accessible to legal heirs as long as 15 years after a person’s disappearance.

More on this topic:
Swiss inheritance law: Who gets what?