Technical article
Swiss Forced Heirship Changed in 2023: What a Trust Can and Cannot Do Now
The question turns on what changed in Swiss law at the start of 2023 and on how Switzerland treats a trust.
Picture a widow from Canada who has lived in Zurich for years. She has a daughter and a son, and no spouse. She sets up a trust under foreign law and moves most of her savings into it, with her son named as the main beneficiary. She asks whether her daughter could still claim a share from the trust after she dies.
The question turns on what changed in Swiss law at the start of 2023 and on how Switzerland treats a trust.
What changed
Since 1 January 2023, the forced heirs in Switzerland are the spouse and the descendants. Parents are no longer forced heirs. Each forced heir is entitled to half of what the statutory rules would give them. That is the reserved share. In the standard case, Chambers (tier B) says the person is free to dispose of half the estate.
In the widow's case, the children are the forced heirs. Each is entitled to half of the share they would have received with no will. The rest of her estate she may leave as she likes.
Forced heirship can be waived. A waiver is made by public deed.
The five-year look-back
Gifts made in the five years before death may be counted when the shares are worked out. Customary occasional gifts are left out. So a transfer to a trust near the end of life is the case most in view.
What a trust can and cannot do
Switzerland is a party to the Hague Trusts Convention, in force from 1 July 2007. A trust validly set up under the chosen foreign law, with the assets properly transferred, is in principle recognised.
That is the first half. The second half is that a transfer to a trust which infringes forced heirship can face claw-back or abatement claims. Claw-back means the heir asks for the transfer to be pulled back to the estate. Abatement means the transfer is cut down to the extent it eats into the reserved share.
| Topic | What the sources show |
|---|---|
| Forced heirs | Spouse and descendants (parents no longer, since 2023) |
| Size of the share | Half of each person's statutory share |
| Added back | Gifts in the five years before death, apart from customary occasional gifts |
| Trust recognised | In principle (party from 1 July 2007) |
| Trust transfer reached | If it infringes the reserved share |
| Waiver | An heir may give up the share, by public deed |
Foreign residents
Foreign residents in Switzerland may elect their national law for succession if the conditions are met. The sources say the last domicile law applies, with a choice of nationality law. For foreign immovable property, the law of the place follows. A foreign judgment is recognised unless it is against Swiss public policy.
The widow in the example could look at that election, since she holds Canadian nationality.
You could
You could write down who your forced heirs would be under the 2023 rules. You could ask a Swiss lawyer how the five-year look-back would treat the date you funded the trust. You could ask whether each child would sign a waiver by public deed, and whether that suits the family. You could also ask whether your nationality law is open to you.
Who it touches
A spouse and children are the forced heirs. Parents lost that status in 2023. A partner who is not married, a stepchild or a friend named in the trust sits outside the reserved group and meets the claims from the other side.
If you hold a trust and a Swiss address, what did your adviser say about the family share? Share it here. Someone may be reading this before that conversation.
Figures are estimates for planning, based on public data. Date read: October 2026.
Sources
- Chambers Succession and Estate Planning 2026 on Switzerland (B)
- Hague Conference on Private International Law, status table of the 1985 trusts convention (A)
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