General power of attorney in Switzerland: generator, bank PoA and the sentence that counts in an emergency
A general power of attorney hands someone almost every key to your life, and whether it still applies in an emergency is decided by a single sentence: whether it should survive your loss of legal capacity. Here is the generator for broad and bank powers of attorney, the check that tells you which one you need, and the difference between a power of attorney and an advance care directive (Vorsorgeauftrag), which a power of attorney never replaces.
💡 What a power of attorney really is: at the bank, what you told it counts
In 16 cantons you can have the signature on a power of attorney certified at the municipal counter, in4 only at a notary, and it is valid in all 26 even without a stamp. Towards your bank, what counts is not only what the power of attorney says, but what you told the bank: if you notified a third party of the authority, its scope towards that party is judged by what you notified (art. 33(3) CO, described, not quoted: Swiss federal law has no official English version). Tell the bank more than the paper says, and what you told it applies. At its core a power of attorney is simple: you authorise another person to conclude legal transactions in your name (art. 32 CO). What that person may do is for you to define, that's the scope of the PoA (art. 33(2) CO). It ranges from “may sell my car once” to “may handle all my affairs”. And crucially: in Switzerland a PoA is in principle form-free, it would even be valid orally in theory.
But “form-free” doesn't mean “doesn't matter”. Whoever presents a PoA must be able to prove it, so it belongs in writing. And that also applies to real estate: the PoA does not need to be notarised, federal law provides no special form for representation (BGE 99 II 159, a German-language ruling). If the transaction itself is notarised, the representation must be stated correctly in the deed (BGE 112 II 330), and the notary may ask for a certified signature as proof. Good to know: you can revoke at any time (art. 34 CO), and waiving this right in advance is invalid.
Whatever the type, without these three building blocks a PoA is contestable or simply unusable:
🖊️ Power-of-attorney generator: “general” does not mean “everything”
"General" does not mean "everything": for 5 acts the law requires a special authority, namely to settle a dispute, agree to arbitration, enter into obligations under bills of exchange, sell or encumber real estate, or make gifts (art. 396(3) CO, described). That is why the general PoA text names these acts expressly. Choose your PoA type, enter the details, and the generator builds you a clean, Swiss-law-compliant text you can copy or download as a PDF. Four types cover the vast majority of situations.
General power of attorney
Broad – all affairs
🌳 Which power of attorney do I need? Sometimes none
Pick the option for losing your capacity to judge, and this check recommends no power of attorneyat all, but an advance care directive. "Power of attorney" isn't one single thing, and choosing the wrong document is costly. Answer two or three questions and you'll know whether you need a general, simple, bank or vehicle PoA, or whether your case actually calls for an advance care directive or a patient directive.
Which power of attorney fits your situation?
Click your way to the right solution in 2 steps. Your path stays anonymous.
What is this primarily about?
🚦 Is your power of attorney valid? Real estate never turns it red
CHF 15 to 30 is what a certification costs where a canton sets a fixed tariff, and for validity you never need it. Real estate on its own never turns this light red: even then the PoA itself needs no special form (BGE 99 II 159). Red comes from missing names, a vague scope or a missing dated signature. Drafted a PoA or have one in front of you? Answer four questions and the traffic light tells you whether it holds, needs a certification or would be rejected as worthless.
Does your power of attorney pass the test?
Four questions, honest result. No input leaves your browser.
Are both the principal AND the authorised person named with full name and address?
Is it clearly described what the person may do (scope)?
Is the PoA dated and signed by hand?
Does it (also) involve real estate or a commercial-register entry?
Method: the traffic light checks the minimum building blocks of a PoA under art. 32 ff. CO (parties, scope, signature). For notarised transactions it turns amber, because proof of the signature and a correct statement in the deed are added (BGE 99 II 159, BGE 112 II 330). It does not replace individual legal advice.
📅 How long is your power of attorney valid? The agent knows the date, not your death
An expiry date has one advantage that death and incapacity lack: it is written in the document, so the agent knows it. When you die, by contrast, the agent keeps binding you or your heirs as if the power still existed, for as long as they do not know it has ended (art. 37(1) CO, described). Did you time-limit your PoA (e.g. for the duration of a trip)? Enter the issue date and the duration, and the calculator gives you the exact expiry date and how many days remain. And it reminds you of a point that is easy to miss: even an open-ended PoA lapses with your loss of legal capacity or your death, unless it provides otherwise (art. 35 CO).
Validity calculator: until when is your PoA valid?
Enter issue date + duration. No input leaves your browser.
Method: the expiry date results from the issue date plus the duration entered in months. The art. 35 CO reminder (lapse on loss of legal capacity or death, unless provided otherwise) applies regardless of any time limit.
⚠️ A power of attorney is NOT an advance care directive: no template to print for an emergency
In 12cantons the road to an advance care directive as a public deed leads only to a notary, in Schaffhausen to the KESB. For an emergency there is no template to print. A handwritten advance care directive must be written by hand from start to finish, dated and signed (art. 361(2) Civil Code, described); otherwise it needs a notarised deed. If you write your relatives a general PoA instead, "in case something happens to me", note that under art. 35(1) CO a power of attorney lapses when you lose legal capacity, unless the contrary was stipulated or follows from the nature of the transaction. Without an express clause it is therefore gone precisely when "something happens": dementia, coma or a serious accident. And even with a clause it remains a power of attorney: for that case the law has a dedicated instrument with a strict form, reviewed by the adult protection authority (KESB). And a public deed does not mean a notary everywhere: in 6 cantons a municipal office can execute it too, in Schaffhausen the KESB itself. The Notary Compass shows it canton by canton.
Works while you have legal capacity. Handy for everyday matters, representation, banking. Lapses on loss of legal capacity and on death, unless the PoA provides otherwise (art. 35 CO).
Takes effect only, and precisely when, you lose capacity of judgement. Governs personal care, asset management and representation. Must be handwritten (entirely by hand, dated, signed) OR notarised. The adult protection authority (KESB) reviews and activates it.
Governs only the medical side: which treatments you want or refuse and who decides medically for you. Written, dated, signed.
For a PoA to apply beyond death or loss of capacity, it must say so expressly. But: an irrevocable PoA beyond death is not permitted, the heirs can revoke it.
🧭 Notary Compass: in 6 cantons the municipality can also execute your advance care directive
If you do not want to write your advance care directive by hand, you need a public deed, and that looks different in every canton. In 12 cantons only a notary in private practice executes it, in 6 (Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Zug, Basel-Landschaft and Appenzell Ausserrhoden) a municipal office can too, and in Schaffhausen the child and adult protection authority (KESB) does it itself. For certifying a signature the spread is even wider: 19 cantons also allow the municipality, 4 only a notary. The compass tells you, for your canton and your document, which form federal law requires, who handles it, what a signature costs under the tariff and where that is written in the cantonal act. Where a simple power of attorney is certified, the table under Certifying signatures shows; if you pass on a house as an advance on inheritance, the cantons are under Property deed, and for your last will there is the will template.
🧭 ConvivaPlus Notary Compass
A tool by ConvivaPlus: checked for every canton against the cantonal act, with the reference
Method: 26 cantons, every line read in the cantonal act (competence, tariff, version), checked on 30.9.2026. A fee only appears where a cantonal tariff sets it; for a public deed we give no franc amount, because it often depends on the value of the transaction. If one of the acts changes, a watcher tells us by comparing every version with the one we read.
📊 The ConvivaPlus power-of-attorney matrix: the law requires a form only for care instruments
In this matrix the law requires a form only for the 2 care instruments, for none of the 4 powers of attorney. And for the powers of attorney, the last word often belongs to the clause rather than the law: according to the ConvivaPlus Power of Attorney End Check, 8 of the 12 ways a power of attorney can end can be excluded by a clause. Which form each type needs and when it lapses is set out in the ConvivaPlus power-of-attorney matrix.
| Type | Form | Works … | Lapses … |
|---|---|---|---|
| General PoA | written, form-free (also real estate) | while capable, with a clause beyond | loss of capacity, death, revocation, unless provided otherwise |
| Simple PoA | written, form-free | for the named act | on completion, expiry, revocation |
| Bank / postal PoA | usually in-house form | for account / payments | revocation; death, unless the form provides otherwise |
| Vehicle / registration PoA | written + ID copy (cantonal) | for registration / deregistration | on completion |
| Advance care directive (CC 360) | handwritten OR notarised | from loss of capacity | recovery, revocation, death |
| Patient directive (CC 370) | written, dated, signed | for medical decisions | revocation |
✅ How to write a power of attorney, step by step
Prefer to draft it yourself rather than use the generator? These six steps lead to a text that holds up before a bank, an authority and a counterparty.
🚫 The mistakes that make a power of attorney worthless: “irrevocable” does not protect you
In 4cantons going to the municipality for a certification is a wasted trip. Write "irrevocable" on a general PoA and you can still revoke it: under art. 34(2) CO, waiving the right to revoke in advance is invalid. That is one of the pitfalls that can make a PoA fail at the decisive moment:
Ignoring the PoA / advance care directive difference and relying on a general PoA without a clause, which lapses on loss of legal capacity (art. 35 CO).
Believing a PoA for real estate must be notarised. Federal law does not require it (BGE 99 II 159); the notary will tell you what proof they want.
Not expressly naming gifts or real-estate transactions: the law requires a special authority for them (art. 396(3) CO), and a general PoA alone is not enough.
Not dating the PoA, so you can't prove which version is current.
Overlooking the bank's in-house form requirement, your own PoA often isn't enough on its own.
Believing a PoA is irrevocable, an advance waiver of the right of revocation is invalid (art. 34 para. 2 CO).
Trying to have the signature certified at the municipality in Bern, Vaud, Geneva and Jura: only a notary certifies there. Which counter is competent in your canton, the Notary Compass shows you.
A power of attorney governs who may act for you while you still could yourself. The advance care directive governs who may when you no longer can. Confuse the two and you have nothing in hand when it counts.
Pro tip from practice: add to a general PoA the sentence “This power of attorney also applies beyond any loss of my capacity to judge and beyond my death”. It then survives the moment an ordinary PoA lapses and gives your relatives the ability to act until an advance care directive takes effect or the estate is settled. It doesn't replace the advance care directive, but it closes the dangerous gap in between.
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Open the template as PDF❓ Frequently asked questions about powers of attorney in Switzerland
The questions we get most often, answered briefly and with sources.
People also ask
Related questions from our magazine
A simple PoA is free, you write it yourself. Costs only arise if an office requires a certified signature; the notary then charges for the certification.
→ What does a will cost? →Any person with legal capacity, so of age and capacity of judgement. That's exactly the crux of the advance care directive: you must set it up while still of sound judgement.
→ PoA or care directive? →If someone else files your tax return or inspects the file, yes, a simple written PoA usually satisfies the tax office.
→ Tax return Zurich online →All information without guarantee. Found an error? → support@conviva-plus.ch
A power of attorney lapses when you lose legal capacity, unless it provides otherwise (art. 35 CO). For dementia, coma or accident the law has the advance care directive (art. 360 ff. CC).
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Discussion
9 voices from the community
J'avais signé une procuration générale pour ma mère, mais le notaire a quand même voulu un pouvoir spécial pour vendre son appartement. Maintenant je comprends pourquoi.
Genau das regelt Art. 396 Abs. 3 OR: Grundstücke veräussern oder belasten braucht eine besondere Ermächtigung. Am sichersten nennt die Vollmacht das Geschäft ausdrücklich, mit Grundbuchnummer.
Mir händ uf d Vollmacht vo mim Vatter «unwiderruflich» gschribe, will mir gmeint händ, das schützi öppis. Jetzt weiss i, dass er sie glich jederziit chönnt zruggneh. Guet z wüsse, bevor mer sich druf verlaht.
Ich hätte fast nur eine Generalvollmacht für meine Mutter gemacht. Der Abschnitt mit dem Vorsorgeauftrag hat mich gerettet, sie hat beginnende Demenz, da hätte die Vollmacht nichts genützt.
Genau das ist der Punkt, den fast alle übersehen. Den Vorsorgeauftrag muss sie errichten, solange sie noch urteilsfähig ist, also besser jetzt als später. Gute Besserung Ihrer Mutter.
Generator ist top, in zwei Minuten hatte ich die Vollmacht fürs Auto abmelden. Tipp an alle: Beim Strassenverkehrsamt vorher anrufen, im Aargau wollten sie zusätzlich die Ausweiskopie, im Artikel steht es ja auch.
Endlich mal eine Seite, die nicht einfach ein Word-Dokument hinklatscht, sondern erklärt, WANN welche Vollmacht gilt. Die Matrix habe ich mir ausgedruckt.
Frage: Reicht die Bankvollmacht von hier, oder will die Bank wirklich ihr eigenes Formular? Bei der ZKB war es leider so.
Korrekt, die meisten Banken bestehen auf ihrem Hausformular. Unsere Vorlage dient als Grundlage und Nachweis, das Bankformular füllst du zusätzlich aus. Wir haben das im FAQ und im Generator-Hinweis ergänzt.
ConvivaPlus Editor · Law & Housing
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