Advance on inheritance in Switzerland 2026: template, collation calculator & new succession law

An advance on inheritance to your own children stays tax-free in 23 of 26 cantons, but the costliest trap in Swiss inheritance law isn't tax, it's collation (Art. 626 CC): whoever fails to settle it actively sows discord among the siblings at death. We show when an advance must be brought into account, how the compulsory portion works since 2023, and generate the legally sound contract in 30 seconds.

📋 What an advance on inheritance really is (and how it differs from a gift)

An advance on inheritance is an advance on the future estate. You transfer money, a property or valuables to a legal heir during your lifetime, free of charge and set off against their future share. Legally it is a special form of gift to a person who would inherit anyway, so typically your own children.

The subtle but costly difference from an ordinary gift lies in collation. An advance to descendants is subject to collation by law (CC Art. 626 para. 2). A plain gift to an outside person is, in principle, not. Both can, however, be reduced later if the compulsory portion of the other heirs is infringed. If you factor in the cantonal tax differences, you'll find the spread in the canton comparison.

⚖️ Collation: the point where families break apart

Imagine one child gets 100,000 francs as an advance, the other nothing. When the parent dies, the empty-handed child feels short-changed. That is exactly what collation is for. Under CC Art. 626, the advance is added back into the estate at death and then shared out evenly. The favoured child must set the advance off against its share. Decisive is the value at the time of death (CC Art. 630), not the amount back then. For a property that has gained value, today's market value counts.

🛡️ Compulsory portion: what the 2023 reform changed

Since 1 January 2023 a more modern inheritance law applies, and that gives you more room for an advance. The descendants' compulsory portion fell from three quarters to one half of the statutory share. The parents' compulsory portion was abolished entirely. You can therefore now dispose of a larger freely available share and favour a child or another person more strongly, without immediately infringing a compulsory portion.

💰 What an advance costs in tax (and why the canton decides)

Good news first: the federal government levies no gift tax, only the cantons are competent. And here is the number almost nobody knows: according to the ConvivaPlus analysis of FTA data (as of 1.1.2025), an advance on inheritance to your own children is completely tax-free in 23 of 26 cantons. Only Appenzell Innerrhoden, Neuchâtel and Vaud tax direct descendants at all, and even then at low rates (around 1 to 3.5%) or with a high allowance. Anyone living in Obwalden or Schwyz pays no inheritance tax at all, for anyone. Two pitfalls remain: an additional communal inheritance tax exists only in Fribourg, Graubünden and Vaud. And for tax purposes the advance is a gift: being generous shortly before death does not escape the taxman, because several cantons count gifts from the last five years back into the estate. Just how widely the cantons differ on tax is shown in our 26-canton tax comparison.

The ConvivaPlus equalisation calculator shows you what will later be credited for an advance on inheritance (Art. 626/630 CC), and our analysis of the FTA inheritance-tax data shows, per canton, what remains tax-free, according to ConvivaPlus.

Anyone planning an advance on inheritance also looks at AHV and retirement provision, checks the capital-withdrawal tax on pension assets, and clarifies how life insurance is treated in the estate.

📝 Setting up an advance on inheritance correctly in 5 steps

Five steps, and the advance stands on solid legal ground, with no later dispute and no nasty tax surprise.

1. 1
   Check assets and compulsory portionsGet an overview of your assets and work out the heirs' compulsory portions. You'll then know how much you can give away freely without infringing anyone.
2. 2
   Decide on collation deliberatelyDetermine whether the advance will be brought into account later (equal treatment) or whether you deliberately favour the child. A favour belongs expressly in the contract.
3. 3
   Draw up the contractPut the parties, the amount or object, the date and the collation clause in writing. The generator below creates the draft in 30 seconds.
4. 4
   Observe the formFor cash a written agreement is enough. For a property, a notarial deed and an entry in the land register are mandatory.
5. 5
   Clarify tax and social benefitsAsk your cantonal tax administration. Also think about supplementary benefits: whoever gives away assets has them counted as a deprivation in a later benefit calculation.

Note: journalistic guidance based on the CC, not legal or tax advice. Your canton, your specific family situation and, in case of doubt, a notary or specialist lawyer prevail. Rates and allowances vary strongly by canton.

The costliest sentence in inheritance law is the one nobody wrote down. Whoever fails to settle collation leaves the decision to the feud among the survivors.

Templates · 06/30/2026