Cantonal guide: Graubünden
Much of inheritance law is cantonal – for example where the will is handed in and which taxes apply. Here are the key points for the canton of Graubünden.
Handing in and opening the will
In the canton of Graubünden, the regional court (Regionalgericht) at the last residence of the deceased is responsible for opening wills and inheritance contracts, the certificate of inheritance, the renunciation and the public inventory; the introductory act to the Civil Code (BR 210.100) assigns these tasks to the single judge (Einzelrichter) at the regional court. You find the regional courts and their forms on justiz-gr.ch. Whoever finds a will or an inheritance contract after the death – at home, in a bank safe-deposit box or with a third party – is obliged to hand in the original there without delay, even if the document looks incomplete or probably invalid. Dispositions deposited during the person's lifetime are not held, in Graubünden, by the court, but by the municipality (in Chur by the residents' services, in Davos by the population services); the municipality usually forwards them itself to the regional court after the death. The court identifies everyone named in the document and the legal heirs – always the latter, even if they are not favoured in the will –, requests the necessary civil-status documents itself from the civil registry offices and opens the disposition to them; expect, as a rule, around four weeks, even in simple cases. With the opening, deadlines begin to run – the renunciation period for appointed heirs and the period for a contestation – and you can apply for the certificate of inheritance. If the legal heirs are not the same as the appointed heirs, they receive a one-month period to contest the disposition with an objection; the certificate of inheritance is issued only once this period has passed unused. The fee for the opening is CHF 20 to CHF 100, that for the notification to those concerned CHF 180 to CHF 550 (Art. 6 no. 4 and 5 of the ordinance on fees for probate proceedings, BR 219.300), plus disbursements such as postage and publication costs (Art. 2); the costs are charged to the estate. Unlike in some cantons, there is no estate office in Graubünden that administers the estate – the heirs act themselves.
Certificate of inheritance
In the canton of Graubünden, the regional court (Regionalgericht) at the last residence issues the certificate of inheritance – called there "Erbenbescheinigung". You apply for it with the form "Gesuch Erbenbescheinigung" of the regional courts (on justiz-gr.ch under Regionalgerichte → Formulare); for ordering, the municipalities refer you to the court, in Chur to the Regionalgericht Plessur. Enclose with the application a copy of your ID, the certificate of registered civil status, if you have one, and, for foreign nationals, the death certificate; the court obtains the other civil-status documents itself from the civil registry offices, which takes time – expect around two to four weeks. The certificate of inheritance is delivered only after the three months have passed since you learned of the death or, where applicable, of the testamentary disposition – or earlier, if all heirs declare in writing that they accept the inheritance purely and simply and waive the renunciation (form "Annahmeerklärung"); after that, a renunciation is no longer possible. If there is a will, it is issued only after it has been opened and after the appeal and objection period has passed unused. Note: whoever wants to renounce the inheritance may not apply for a certificate of inheritance. If you do not yet know whether the estate is over-indebted, ask the regional court instead for a certificate for enquiries (form "Bescheinigung Auskunft", for heirs and executors); with it you can obtain information about the estate from banks and authorities yourself, without accepting the inheritance. The fee is CHF 35 to CHF 900, depending on the difficulty of identifying the heirs (Art. 7 no. 12 of the ordinance on fees for probate proceedings, BR 219.300), plus disbursements (Art. 2). You need the certificate of inheritance mainly for banks, insurers and the land registry; copies are usually enough, the land registry always requires an original – state in the application if you need several copies.
Renunciation and public inventory
In the canton of Graubünden, you declare the renunciation to the regional court (Regionalgericht) at the last residence of the deceased – in writing, with the form "Ausschlagung Erbschaft" from justiz-gr.ch, by post or in person at the counter; civil-status documents you have, such as the family record, you enclose in the original. The period is three months: for legal heirs from the moment you learned of the death, for appointed heirs from the official notification of the disposition. If you do not yet know whether the estate is over-indebted, ask the regional court beforehand for a certificate for enquiries (form "Bescheinigung Auskunft"); with it you can obtain information about the estate from banks and authorities yourself, without accepting the inheritance. The renunciation is irrevocable and costs CHF 35 (Art. 7 no. 7 of the fee ordinance BR 219.300), plus disbursements, charged to the person renouncing. If you renounce as a legal heir, your position passes to your own descendants – they too must renounce if they do not want the inheritance. Parents make the declaration for minor children on the same form; with joint parental custody, both parents sign, the form provides for no consent step by the child and adult protection authority (KESB) – the three months also run for the child. If a parent dies, the surviving parent files an inventory of the estate and the child's assets with the KESB. If all the next heirs renounce, the bankruptcy office (Konkursamt) liquidates the estate. You also request the public inventory, with a call to creditors (Rechnungsruf), from the regional court, within one month from the same point; the request of a single heir counts for all. The single judge (Einzelrichter) orders it and instructs a notary to draw it up; the call to creditors appears twice in the cantonal official gazette (Kantonsamtsblatt) (kantonsamtsblatt.gr.ch) and at the last residence, and creditors have, from the first publication, at least one month to submit their claims (Art. 80 EGzZGB). The court fees under Art. 8 of the ordinance BR 219.300 are tiered – order CHF 100 to CHF 350, call to creditors CHF 50, request to declare acceptance or renunciation and extension of the period each CHF 35 to CHF 100, unsealing CHF 35 to CHF 180 –, plus disbursements; notarial fees are added under BR 210.370, CHF 100 to CHF 200 per hour and, for an estate over CHF 100'000, a surcharge of 1 ‰ of the excess value, at most CHF 15'000. Costs and fees are basically charged to the estate; if it does not suffice, to the applying party. Once the inventory is closed, you have one month to accept or renounce the inheritance; whoever accepts it under public inventory is liable only for the inventoried debts.
Inheritance tax
The canton of Graubünden levies a tax on inherited shares (Erbanfallsteuer): it is not the estate as a whole that is taxed, but the share of each heir, according to their relationship to the deceased (Art. 106 ff. of the tax act, BR 720.000). Exempt from tax, under Art. 107b para. 1, are spouses and cohabiting partners (registered partners are treated the same as spouses), descendants, stepchildren and foster children, non-joint descendants of spouses and cohabiting partners and their own descendants, and parents, stepparents and foster parents. The law does not define what counts as cohabitation; since 2021, a shared household is no longer mandatory (Administrative Court of Graubünden, A 2021 10). The cantonal tax administration (Steuerverwaltung) assesses the overall picture – according to the dispatch, for example a shared household of at least three years, mutual care, shared finances, being named as beneficiary in the 2nd and 3rd pillar or an advance care mandate; if the partners live together with joint children, the cohabitation always counts –, and the heirs must prove it; a mere legacy is not enough. If you lived apart, clarify the question early with the special taxes division (Abteilung Spezialsteuern). Everyone else pays a fixed rate on their share (Art. 114 para. 3): 5 % for the parents' line of heirs – siblings, nieces and nephews and their descendants; stepchildren and foster children count as children here –, 15 % for everyone else, such as grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins or unrelated persons. A tax-free allowance of CHF 7'000 remains exempt from each gift, CHF 14'000 for people in need (Art. 114 para. 1). In addition, municipalities may levy their own tax on inherited shares and gifts, at most 5 % for the parents' line of heirs and 25 % for the other beneficiaries (Art. 21 para. 5 of the municipal and church tax act); the cantonal exemptions, including those for parents and cohabiting partners, then also apply to the municipalities (para. 2). Chur levies 5 and 20 %, Flims 5 and 15 %; whether and how much your municipality levies is stated in its tax act – the deceased's municipality of residence is decisive. The cantonal and municipal tax are assessed and collected together by the tax administration of the canton of Graubünden, special taxes division, on the basis of the inheritance tax return – which you file even if all heirs are exempt from tax –, and you receive a single bill for both. On stv.gr.ch there is a guide and the declaration software.
Inheritance tax return
In the canton of Graubünden, the heirs declare the estate themselves, using the inheritance tax return of the cantonal tax administration (Steuerverwaltung). It serves to record all the assets and all the debts of the deceased as at the date of death – accounts, securities, insurance, property (including property outside the canton, for the allocation of debts), vehicles, household goods, open invoices and funeral costs. The tax administration sends the tax return after the death, without stating a fixed point in time; if you have received nothing after around two months, ask the special taxes division, because the return has to be filed even if all heirs are exempt from tax (in that case, pages 1 and 2 and the list of enclosures on page 4 are enough). If there is no executor and no estate administrator, the heirs designate an heirs' representative, who fills in the return on behalf of everyone and is responsible for queries and correspondence in the assessment procedure. The deadline is 90 days from dispatch and is printed on the tax return or the request; you file an application for an extension in writing before it runs out – online, by e-mail to spezialsteuern@stv.gr.ch or by post to the tax administration of the canton of Graubünden, special taxes division, Steinbruchstrasse 18, 7001 Chur. File the return dated and signed together with the supporting documents; it is the basis for the inheritance tax of the canton and the municipality. The tax act also provides for an official inventory (Art. 148 to 150): after the death of a person liable to tax, the cantonal tax administration – or, on its behalf, the regional notary (Regionalnotar) – draws up an inventory, unless it must be assumed that the assets are minor; for this it can order a disposal freeze (Verfügungssperre) limited to 90 days and the sealing of the assets. If there is a risk that estate assets might disappear, you can also ask the regional court for a sealing or a protective inventory (Art. 74 and 75 EGzZGB). Keep the records of assets and debts as at the date of death in a safe place.
The deceased's tax return
Death ends the deceased's tax liability; for the year of death, the heirs file a tax return – in the canton of Graubünden, the tax return for a partial-year tax liability. In it, you state the income from 1 January to the date of death and the assets as at the date of death. The form is usually sent to the heirs and is otherwise available from the municipal tax office (Gemeindesteueramt); where and by when you file it is stated in the letter – usually the municipal tax office of the last residence is responsible –, and the deadline can be extended on request, if you file the request before it runs out. Spouses and registered partners are taxed jointly up to the date of death: the surviving person fills in the last joint tax return up to the date of death, and their own partial-year tax liability starts on the date of death – for this they file their own tax return by the end of the year, with the assets as at 31 December. For the estate not yet divided, the heirs declare assets and income from the date of death onward proportionally in their own tax return. The information sheet "Unterjährige Steuerpflicht" of the tax administration (Steuerverwaltung) on stv.gr.ch explains the details. You also use the asset figures as at the date of death in the inheritance tax return.
Last checked: September 2026, against the canton's official pages. Is something no longer right? Let us know.
The application prepares; you act. It does not replace legal or tax advice.