Private Individuals

Imagine the apartment block as a birthday cake: Each piece of cake is a flat (called a condominium unit, Art. 712a ZGB) and all of them together are this cake/property. The cake pieces are not all the same size, the birthday child gets the largest piece with ¼, the others smaller ones of e.g. 1/8 - the size of the cake pieces/apartments/floor units is called the value quota (Art. 712e para. 1 CC). Why is this important? As a rule, all bills for this property are divided among the individual owners according to the value quota (Art. 712h para. 1 ZGB). And at the meetings of all owners, each owner usually has as much voting power as their value quota (e.g. the birthday child has 25% of the votes and the guests "only" 12.5% of the votes...), but this requires a special provision in the condominium owners' regulations. If there is no such provision, each owner has one vote, regardless of the number and size of the individual units.

The irrevocable promise to pay, the vendor's lien and a corresponding condition in the purchase agreement are the most important.
 

The irrevocable promise to pay is a document from the financing bank that the purchase price will be paid to the seller on the agreed date. It offers both buyer and seller the greatest security for the payment of the purchase price. This ensures that the purchase price is paid on time and that the purchase price is actually available.

The seller's lien provides the seller with a lien for the purchase price claim, which can be entered in the land register as part of the handling of the purchase contract. If the buyer does not pay, the seller can assert his lien.

In addition, the purchase agreement is usually concluded on the condition that the purchase agreement is not registered with the land registry until the purchase price has been paid. In this case, payment can be made by the buyer to the notary, who in turn confirms to the seller and the land registry as a neutral notary that the purchase price has been paid and registers the transaction with the land registry. Once the transaction has been finalised, the notary forwards the purchase price to the seller.

The law defines the creation of a debt certificate as the establishment of a new personal claim that is secured by a mortgage. This can take the form of a paper or registered mortgage note. The mortgage note can be used to secure mortgage loans or loans with fluctuating amounts. Once the debt has been repaid, the mortgage note can be used again for a new claim. However, a promissory note can also be created in advance as a precautionary measure for a claim that does not yet exist, in which case the owner is the creditor of the promissory note.

It can be advantageous for the parties involved to conclude a marriage contract. This is because a prenuptial agreement is used to make important decisions regarding the mutual protection of the spouses, e.g. in the event of the death of a spouse. The marriage contract must be officially notarised by a notary.

In Switzerland, there are the matrimonial property regimes of participation in acquired property, community of property and separation of property. Unless the spouses have agreed otherwise, they are subject to the ordinary matrimonial property regime of participation in acquired property.

The inheritance consists of all assets acquired by the spouse during the marriage in return for payment, as well as his or her earnings from work; benefits from employee welfare institutions, social insurance and social welfare institutions; compensation due to incapacity for work; income from his or her own property; replacement purchases for inheritances. Many married couples wish to favour the other spouse in the best possible way in the event of their own predecease. At the time of the death of the first spouse, a division of the marital property takes place in the case of the division of acquired property. The marital property is divided into separate property and acquired property. The acquired property is then divided equally. The surviving spouse receives half of the inheritance and his or her own property. The other half of the inheritance and the surviving spouse's personal property are then included in the estate of the deceased, which goes to the heirs.

As part of a marriage contract, the inheritance can be allocated to the surviving spouse in order to achieve maximum favouritism for the survivor. In this case, only the personal property of the deceased would be included in the estate. The specific structure of a maximum benefit for the surviving spouse requires a specific individual solution in each case.

It makes sense for married couples with children from a first and second marriage to conclude an inheritance contract. If the wife dies first, the husband receives half of the earned income and the joint property income from matrimonial property law. All other assets form the estate and are divided equally between the husband and the wife's children (each in equal shares). At the time of the husband's death, his children will inherit all of his assets in equal shares.
 

With an inheritance agreement in which all children participate, it can be achieved that upon the death of the first parent of the patchwork family, all assets remain with the surviving parent and only go to all children in equal shares after the death of the second parent. If the intention is for all children of both spouses to be treated equally, an inheritance contract must be concluded.

Yes, that is possible. The will must be written by hand from start to finish, including the day, month and year it was made. It must be signed at the end. If these regulations are not adhered to, the will can be successfully contested by any heirs.

In addition to the fact that the will does not have to be written by the testator and that the strict formal requirements must be observed, the advantage of a notarised will over a handwritten will is that the notary confirms the testator's capacity to dispose of the will. In addition, two witnesses establish that the will was signed in front of them, that it contains the will of the testator and that the testator was in a state of capacity.

The right of residence entitles the holder to occupy a building or part of a building. The beneficiary must pay for the normal maintenance of the flat, ancillary costs and minor repairs. The owner bears the remaining costs. The right of residence is personal and cannot be transferred.

The usufruct entitles the usufructuary to continue to use and manage the property and to receive its income. As a rule, the usufructuary bears all costs associated with the property. He can rent out the property or parts of it. In principle, only the ownership is transferred, everything else remains the same.

The contracting parties may also agree on a regulation regarding costs that deviates from the law.

Legal heirs are mutually obliged to equalise everything that the deceased has given them during their lifetime to be offset against their inheritance share (Art. 626 para. 1 ZGB).

Mr and Mrs Muster have two children, Rita and Oscar, and own a detached house in Musterhausen. The single-family home is the sole property of the father, Peter Muster. The mother, Frieda Muster, has already died. Peter Muster would now like to transfer the family home to Rita. All family members agree to this procedure.

As part of the assignment agreement for the future inheritance, an imputed value is determined for the detached house. In the division of the estate on the death of the father, the assignment will have to be taken into account at the imputed value and Rita will have to settle the value of the property received at this time. Oscar will therefore receive the same share in the division of the estate that Rita has already received in advance. The equalisation obligation means that the children are treated equally as long as the transfer or gift is offset against the inheritance share.

The easiest way to explain this is to use two examples.
 

The amount of gift tax to be paid is as follows.

CHF 12,000.00 can be deducted from the total amount of gifts. This deduction is only granted once within 5 years for gifts from the same person.

The value of Vreni's house or the value of the gift to Moritz is CHF 300,000.00, of which CHF 12,000.00 can be deducted. Moritz has to pay gift tax on an amount of CHF 288,000.00.

(Results in the value of the gift of CHF 288,000.00)

Depending on the relationship (Art. 19 ESchG), Moritz has to pay a multiple of the tax amount.

As Moritz is a nephew of Vreni, he has to pay eleven times the tax amount, which results in a total amount payable of CHF 38,446.10 (11xCHF 3,495.10)

Yes, in the canton of Berne, notarisation of signatures is the responsibility of independent notaries. The certification of a signature consists of the notary certifying that the signature was written by the signatory or recognised by the signatory as their own signature.

Yes, the notary must establish the identity of the signatory by means of a valid identity card or passport.

If the notarisation is intended for use abroad, it requires over-certification or an apostille on the document. The over-certification verifies the authenticity of the notary's signature and seal as well as the capacity in which he has acted. The apostille is a special form of over-authentication. It confirms that the document is accepted in the country of destination and is only applicable in those countries that have ratified the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents. In the Canton of Bern, the apostille is issued by the State Chancellery.