Cantonal guide: Obwalden
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 Obwalden.
Handing in and opening the will
In the canton of Obwalden, the Einwohnergemeinderat (municipal council) of the municipality of the last residence is the inheritance authority; the business is handled by the Gemeindekanzlei (municipal clerk's office) or the Erbschaftsamt (inheritance office) of the municipality (in Sarnen the inheritance office at Rütistrasse 8, in Kerns and Engelberg the inheritance office in the municipal clerk's office). A will, an inheritance contract or a marriage contract that you find after the death at home, in a bank safe-deposit box or with third parties, you hand in there – in the original, even if the document looks incomplete or probably invalid; the Introductory Act to the Civil Code requires such documents to be handed in "without delay to the Einwohnergemeindepräsident (municipal president) for the attention of the municipal council" (Art. 85). The municipal council opens them and decides whether the inheritance is left to the heirs for the time being or an Erbschaftsverwaltung (official administration of the estate) is ordered. Several municipal clerk's offices – for example Kerns and Sachseln – take wills, marriage contracts and inheritance contracts into safekeeping against an Empfangsbescheinigung (receipt), in both municipalities for CHF 15; a deposited document is opened ex officio after the death. The municipality identifies the legal heirs and the appointed heirs and opens the disposition to them by sending each known heir a copy by registered mail – Kerns speaks of an "officially certified copy", Sarnen of a "copy". With the opening, deadlines begin to run: for appointed heirs the three-month renunciation period and the one-month period in which legal heirs or earlier beneficiaries can object to the issuing of the Erbenbescheinigung (certificate of inheritance). For the opening, Sarnen states a fee of CHF 100; the other municipalities tell you their fee; the costs are charged to the estate. Disputed questions – for example the validity of a will – are decided not by the municipality but by the Kantonsgericht (cantonal court); you can take a decision of the municipal council itself to the Regierungsrat (cantonal government) within 20 days of its delivery – have yourself advised on this.
Certificate of inheritance
In the canton of Obwalden, the municipality of the last residence issues the Erbenbescheinigung (certificate of inheritance) – under Art. 86 of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code, the Gemeindeschreiber (municipal secretary) or the Einwohnergemeindepräsident (municipal president) "on the instruction of the municipal council". You order it from the Erbschaftsamt (inheritance office) or the Gemeindekanzlei (municipal clerk's office), in writing or, where available, via the municipality's online counter; Giswil sends it to the community of heirs of its own accord once the period has passed. The Obwalden municipalities know two documents. The Erbenverzeichnis (list of heirs) is issued at the request of the heirs and names the legal heirs – in Alpnach also the appointed heirs and the legatees. With it you obtain information from banks, insurers and the tax administration, but you do not yet have power to dispose of the estate. The certificate of inheritance names only the heirs, legal and appointed, and is issued only once the heirs have accepted the inheritance: after the three-month renunciation period has passed – or earlier, if all heirs declare in writing that they accept the inheritance unconditionally (Kerns has the form "Annahmeerklärung" for this). How early that is, each municipality regulates itself. In Kerns and Engelberg, such a declaration of acceptance shortens the period to one month; Alpnach issues the certificate of inheritance at the earliest one month after the list of heirs; Sarnen after the three months have passed or as soon as all heirs have accepted the inheritance; Sachseln only after three months – ask your municipality for the earliest date. If there is a will, at the earliest one month after its opening. Note: with the declaration of acceptance, a renunciation is no longer possible – whoever still wants to renounce the inheritance does not submit one. If the deceased owned a piece of land, Kerns, Sarnen, Alpnach and Sachseln issue a four-page certificate of inheritance, with which the land registry office transfers the ownership to the heirs. Each municipality sets the fee – Kerns states CHF 50 to 100 and Alpnach CHF 30 to 100, each plus outlays and expenses, Sarnen CHF 40 to 100 and Sachseln CHF 30 to 100; order right away as many copies as you need for banks, insurers and the land registry.
Renunciation and public inventory
In the canton of Obwalden, you declare the renunciation to the municipality in which the deceased last lived – under Art. 87 of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code, "to the Einwohnergemeindepräsident (municipal president) at the place of residence of the deceased for the attention of the municipal council". The municipalities have a form for this (for example Kerns; Lungern in its online counter), which you submit signed to the Gemeindekanzlei (municipal clerk's office); the declaration must be "unconditional and unreserved". Lungern states a Behandlungsgebühr (handling fee) of CHF 50, and you receive a Protokollauszug (extract of the minutes); in the other municipalities, ask about the fee. The period is three months – for legal heirs from the day you learned of the death (usually the date of death), for appointed heirs from the delivery of the opening of the will or inheritance contract; the Einwohnergemeinderat (municipal council) decides on a request to extend the renunciation period. The renunciation is irrevocable. If you renounce as a legal heir, your position passes to your descendants, who must then renounce as well. If a minor child is among the heirs, ask the KESB Obwalden (child and adult protection authority; Dorfplatz 4a, 6060 Sarnen) how to proceed. The KESB's Merkblatt (information sheet) "Die Erbteilung" is addressed to curators: in a conflict of interest, a substitute curator is appointed; if the estate is obviously over-indebted, the Konkursamt (bankruptcy office) proceeds on the assumption of a renunciation and nothing further needs to be done; if the situation is unclear, the renunciation first requires the consent of the KESB. If all the next legal heirs renounce, the Kantonsgericht (cantonal court) decides on the opening of bankruptcy, and the bankruptcy office liquidates the estate. The öffentliches Inventar (public inventory) with a Rechnungsruf (call to creditors), by contrast, you request from the Kantonsgerichtspräsidium (cantonal court president's office; Kantonsgericht Obwalden, Poststrasse 6, Postfach, 6060 Sarnen), within one month from the same point in time; the request of one heir counts for all. The cantonal court president's office decides in summary proceedings and entrusts the bankruptcy office with carrying it out (debt enforcement and bankruptcy office of the canton of Obwalden, Betreibungs- und Konkursamt, bankruptcy service Dienststelle Konkurs, Enetriederstrasse 1, 6060 Sarnen; Art. 89 of the Introductory Act). The bankruptcy office publishes the call to creditors in the Amtsblatt (official gazette) – creditors and debtors register their claims and debts as at the date of death, with supporting documents, with the bankruptcy office within the registration period of one month stated there –, draws up the inventory from them and makes it available for inspection for at least one month after the registration period has ended; complaints in the proceedings go to the cantonal court president's office within ten days. After this inspection period has ended, the bankruptcy office forwards the inventory to the municipal president, who asks you to declare within one month whether you accept the inheritance; the cantonal court president's office decides on an extension of this period. Whoever accepts it under public inventory is liable only for the inventoried debts. An advance on costs may be required for the procedure; the costs are charged to the estate. If the estate may be over-indebted and no co-heir has yet accepted the inheritance, there is a third route, the amtliche Liquidation (official liquidation), to be requested within the same three months; it is ordered by the cantonal court president's office (Art. 90), and if the estate proves to be over-indebted, the bankruptcy office liquidates it (information on ow.ch).
Inheritance tax
The canton of Obwalden levies no inheritance tax: it abolished it – together with the gift tax – with effect from 1 January 2017. If the deceased had their last residence in Obwalden, you pay no inheritance tax here on your share of the inheritance, regardless of the degree of kinship and of where you yourself live; you do not have to file an inheritance-tax return; the tax-related Todesfallinventar (death inventory) still takes place (see the section "Death inventory"). Only for deaths up to the end of 2016 does the former law still apply – at that time spouses, relatives in the ascending and descending line including adopted children and stepchildren, parents-in-law, son-in-law and daughter-in-law as well as siblings were exempt, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces paid 10 percent, all others 20 percent; in this rare case, ask the tax administration. Two things remain to be noted. First: in Switzerland, land is taxed in the canton in which it is located. If the deceased owned a property in another canton, that canton may levy its own inheritance tax on that part of the estate – under its own rules on exemptions and tax rates; enquire with the tax administration of the canton in which the property is located. Second: what you inherit belongs, from the day after the date of death, to your own assets and income and has to be declared in your next tax return – in proportion to your inheritance quota, as long as the estate has not yet been divided. Information is available from the Steuerverwaltung Obwalden (tax administration of Obwalden), St. Antonistrasse 4, 6060 Sarnen.
Death inventory (Todesfallinventar)
In the canton of Obwalden, "an official inventory is drawn up within 30 days" after the death of a person liable to tax (Art. 233 para. 1 of the Tax Act) – the tax administration calls it Todesfallinventar (death inventory), its Weisung (directive) W13/2014 on the subject Nachlassinventar (estate inventory). Under Art. 239 of the Tax Act, the municipality in which the deceased had their last residence or place of stay for tax purposes is responsible for drawing up the inventory and for the Siegelung (sealing); its Einwohnergemeinderat (municipal council) may transfer the drawing-up of the inventory to the cantonal tax administration. According to the Weisung, the kantonale Steuerverwaltung Obwalden (cantonal tax administration of Obwalden, St. Antonistrasse 4, 6060 Sarnen) acts as the Inventarbehörde (inventory authority), through its Abteilung Sondersteuern (special taxes division), for Engelberg through its Aussenstelle (branch office); who draws up the inventory in your case, you can see from the letter you receive. The inventory authority writes to the persons who manage or hold the assets of the deceased and encloses a Fragebogen (questionnaire) for determining the assets and liabilities as at the date of death; the heirs' representative fills it in completely and truthfully and submits it with the bank and other supporting documents within 14 days (Art. 10 of the Weisung) or within the period stated in the letter; after a sealing, this period can be extended. The questionnaire is available on ow.ch as a PDF and as an Excel template; for the death-related costs it provides a flat rate of CHF 10'000 to 15'000, and the tax administration answers questions about it. The inventory records the assets and debts of the deceased as at the date of death, plus the assets of the spouse with whom the deceased lived in a marriage that was not separated and those of the minor children under their parental authority for whom they could claim a child deduction (Art. 234). Until the inventory has been drawn up, you may dispose of estate assets "only with the consent of the inventory authority"; it lifts this Verfügungssperre (restriction on disposal) in writing after the inventory has been drawn up. You are obliged to cooperate, that is, give truthful information and allow inspection of the records. The inventory is also the opportunity to disclose assets the deceased did not pay tax on. Under Art. 232a of the Tax Act, the vereinfachte Nachbesteuerung (simplified back taxation) applies if no tax authority knew of the tax evasion, the heirs "support the tax authority without reservation" and "make serious efforts to pay the back tax owed"; only the last three tax periods before the year of death are then taxed retroactively, plus default interest. In the case of an official liquidation of the estate or one by the bankruptcy office, this relief does not apply. Keep the supporting documents for assets and debts as at the date of death in a safe place.
The deceased's tax return
The death ends the deceased's tax liability; for the period from 1 January up to and including the date of death, a last tax return has to be filed. In the canton of Obwalden, tax administration is centralised: the Steuerverwaltung Obwalden (tax administration of Obwalden) in Sarnen (St. Antonistrasse 4, 6060 Sarnen) is responsible, not the municipality; as a rule it sends the bereaved the documents – contact it if nothing arrives. If the deceased was a single person, the bereaved file the tax return (guide, Wegleitung 2025). In it you state income and deductions up to and including the date of death and the assets as at the date of death; you align the asset figures with the Todesfallinventar (death inventory). A separate deadline applies to this tax return: "In the event of moving abroad and in the event of death, the tax return must be submitted within 30 days" – and not, like the ordinary tax return, by 30 April of the following year; the tax administration will tell you from when the 30 days run. If the time is not enough, request an extension before it runs out – online via efristen.ow.ch free of charge until 31 December at the latest, in writing by post or e-mail also before 31 December against a fee of CHF 30; beyond 31 December only in writing and with reasons, for CHF 30 per quarter. Spouses are assessed jointly until the death of one of them: the tax return as at the date of death is the last joint one; from the day following the date of death, the surviving person is assessed separately and files a tax return of their own for the rest of the year, with the assets as at 31 December. What you inherit, you pay tax on from the day after the date of death in your own tax return – in proportion to your inheritance quota, as long as the estate is undistributed. Online you file tax returns with eTax Web (online tax filing) via steuern.ow.ch without a signature; you obtain paper forms from the tax administration. Whether the online routes are also open for the tax return as at the date of death, the tax administration will tell you.
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.