Cantonal guide: Schwyz
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 Schwyz.
Handing in and opening the will
In the canton of Schwyz, the single judge (Einzelrichter) of the district court (Bezirksgericht) at the last residence of the deceased opens wills as well as marriage and inheritance contracts. Safeguarding the estate – inventory, sealing, administration of the estate – and determining the heirs are the responsibility of the inheritance office (Erbschaftsamt) designated by the district council (Bezirksrat): in the district of Schwyz this has been the inheritance registry (Erbschaftskanzlei) of the district court since 1 June 2022, in the districts of Gersau, March, Einsiedeln, Küssnacht and Höfe the district's inheritance office. A will or an inheritance contract that you find at home, in a bank safe-deposit box or with a third party, you hand in to the district court without delay and in the original, preferably by registered mail – even if the document looks incomplete or probably invalid. If the deceased deposited their disposition with the residents' registration office (Einwohneramt) of their municipality – it is the legal place of deposit, the deposit costs CHF 40 – that office forwards it to the district court for opening of its own accord after the death is reported; you do not need to do anything for this. The single judge opens the disposition in writing to the legal and appointed heirs: everyone involved receives an opening order (Eröffnungsverfügung) with a copy. An executor appointed in the will is informed of the mandate by the district court. With the service of the opening order, deadlines begin to run – for appointed heirs the three-month renunciation period; the certificate of inheritance can be issued at the earliest one month after service, in the district of Schwyz only if the declaration of acceptance (Annahmeerklärung) signed by all heirs is available – otherwise after the renunciation period has passed. The opening carries a fee: the cantonal fee schedule provides CHF 100 to 5'000 for non-contentious estate matters before the single judge, depending on the value at stake and the time spent, and states no fixed amount for the opening; the district of Gersau charges it by time spent. The costs are charged to the estate. Disputed questions – for example whether a will is valid – are not decided by the opening, but by the court in a separate procedure on action.
Certificate of inheritance
In the canton of Schwyz, the single judge (Einzelrichter) of the district court (Bezirksgericht) at the last residence issues the certificate of inheritance – only on written application by a legal or appointed heir, or by the executor, never of its own accord. You order it in writing and signed: in the district of Schwyz with the form "Bestellung Erbbescheinigung" of the district court – an email does not meet the formal requirements there –, in the district of Höfe with the form of the inheritance office, in the district of Gersau via the district's online counter; the other districts tell you the process on request. As a rule you do not need any enclosures: the district court obtains the official civil-status documents itself and draws up the list of heirs – this takes time. The certificate of inheritance is issued only once any dispositions of last will have been opened and the renunciation period has passed, or all heirs have accepted. The district of Schwyz issues it at the earliest one month after notifying those involved, if the declaration of acceptance (Annahmeerklärung) signed by all heirs is available – otherwise after the three-month renunciation period has passed. The district of Höfe issues it, with a will, at the earliest one month after service of the opening order, without a will as soon as it has determined the legal heirs; the district of Gersau, without a will, only after the three-month renunciation period from knowledge of the death. Note: with the declaration of acceptance, the reflection period is shortened and the right of renunciation is forfeited; the declaration is irrevocable – whoever still wants to renounce the inheritance does not sign one. An executor receives an executor's certificate (Willensvollstreckerzeugnis) from the district court on application. The certificate of inheritance carries a fee; the cantonal fee schedule states no fixed amount for it, but the range of CHF 100 to 5'000 for non-contentious estate matters. The district of Schwyz levies a court fee of at least CHF 300 and additionally bills the costs incurred, for example for civil-status documents; the district of Gersau states CHF 300; the other districts tell you the amount on request. State on the form how many copies you need for banks, insurers, the land registry and the post office – the district of Schwyz issues up to three.
Renunciation and public inventory
In the canton of Schwyz, you declare the renunciation to the single judge (Einzelrichter) of the district court (Bezirksgericht) at the last residence of the deceased – in writing, with your personal details and your signature, in the original and preferably by registered mail; if your district offers a form "Erbausschlagungserklärung", use it. In the district of Schwyz, the declaration goes to the district court of Schwyz, Rathaus, PO box 60, 6431 Schwyz; in the district of Höfe, by registered mail to the single judge of the district of Höfe, Rebhaldenstrasse 13, 8807 Freienbach; in the district of Einsiedeln, to the district court, Eisenbahnstrasse 20a, PO box 38, 8840 Einsiedeln. The period is three months and runs for legal heirs from the date of death – or, if you can prove you only learned of the death later, from that day –, for appointed heirs from the service of the opening order. The renunciation is irrevocable; whoever has accepted the inheritance or interfered in its affairs can no longer renounce. 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. If a deputy (Beistand) renounces for a person under deputyship, the consent of the child and adult protection authority (KESB) is required; the application must reach the KESB before the renunciation period expires. Whether parents also need the KESB's consent for their minor children is not stated in the Schwyz information sheets – ask the district court or the KESB right at the start, because the three-month period keeps running meanwhile. If all the next legal heirs renounce, the estate is liquidated by the bankruptcy office (Konkursamt). Accepting the renunciation carries a fee: a court fee under the cantonal fee schedule – with no fixed amount – plus the outlays for civil-status documents and inquiries. If it is unclear whether the estate is over-indebted, you can request a public inventory with a call to creditors (Rechnungsruf) – in writing to the single judge, within one month from the same point in time; the request of a single heir counts for all. The single judge appoints a notary for this; the inventory should generally be available within three months. The call to creditors is published in the official gazette of the canton of Schwyz (Amtsblatt) – digital only since 2026 – and at the deceased's last residence, with a period of at least one month for creditors and debtors. The public inventory carries a fee; the district of Schwyz requires an advance on costs (Kostenvorschuss) of at least CHF 3'000 for it. The costs are borne by the estate, and where it is not enough, by the heirs who requested it. Once it is closed, the single judge gives you 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 Schwyz does not levy inheritance tax – one of only two cantons in Switzerland, alongside Obwalden – and no gift tax either. This applies to all heirs, regardless of the degree of kinship, the size of the inheritance share and the type of assets: spouses, descendants, siblings, cohabiting partners and unrelated persons pay no tax on their inheritance in the canton of Schwyz, and there are neither allowances, nor tax classes, nor an inheritance-tax return. What matters is the deceased's last residence in the canton of Schwyz. Two points nonetheless remain important: first, the district's inheritance office – in the district of Schwyz the district court – draws up an inventory of the assets as at the date of death after every death, provided there are any assets at all – not for an inheritance tax, but to check the deceased's income and wealth tax (see "Inventory after a death"). Second, from the date of death the inheritance forms part of your own assets: until the division, you declare your share of the undivided estate and its income in your own tax return, at your place of residence. If you live in another canton, that canton generally does not tax your inheritance either – for inheritances, the law of the canton where the deceased lived applies; it can be different for real estate in other cantons, for which the canton where the property is located is responsible. If in doubt, ask the tax administration there.
Inventory after a death
In the canton of Schwyz, an official inventory of the deceased's assets as at the date of death is drawn up by law after every death – for the cantonal taxes and the direct federal tax, even when no inheritance tax is due; it may only be waived if there are no assets at all. The inventory authority in charge is the inheritance office of the district at the last tax residence; in the district of Schwyz this has been the inheritance registry (Erbschaftskanzlei) of the district court since 1 June 2022, in the district of Einsiedeln the inheritance office of the district administration. You do not need to report the death yourself for this: the civil registry office notifies the inheritance office immediately, and the inventory authority writes, by registered letter, to the deceased's contact person in the first weeks after the death – in the district of Schwyz within three weeks; in the district of Einsiedeln all known legal heirs receive the inventory form about two to three weeks after the death. The letter explains the procedure and the prohibition on disposal (Verfügungsverbot). The inventory is usually drawn up in writing by correspondence; the inventory authority sets you a reasonable deadline for this, and the information sheet "Inventaraufnahme im Todesfall" from the cantonal tax administration (Kantonale Steuerverwaltung) explains the process. What is recorded is the entire assets and debts as at the date of death – including the assets of the person with whom the deceased lived in an undivided marriage or registered partnership, and of minor children under their care: accounts, securities, insurance, real estate, vehicles, household goods, open invoices and funeral costs. The last tax return does not replace the inventory form. Heirs, the heirs' representative and the executor are obliged to cooperate: give truthful information, produce all records that shed light on the estate, report assets discovered later within ten days and be present at the drawing up of the inventory on request; banks, employers and other third parties are also obliged to provide information. Before the inventory is drawn up, heirs and persons who hold or manage estate assets may only dispose of them with the consent of the inventory authority; to secure them, the inventory authority may seal them immediately. Independently of this, the inheritance office orders sealing when it considers it necessary or when an heir requests it. The inventory also serves to assess the heirs for their share of the inheritance from the date of death. Neither the tax act nor the information sheet states a fee for drawing up the inventory itself; under the cantonal fee schedule, fees apply to determining the heirs and to orders by the inheritance office (CHF 60 to 1'000) as well as to protective measures such as sealing (CHF 40 per half hour or part thereof). Keep the records of assets and debts as at the date of death in a safe place – drawing up the inventory and the last tax return are separate procedures, but you need the same figures for both.
The deceased's tax return
Death ends the deceased's tax liability; for the year of death, a last tax return must be filed from 1 January to the date of death. In the canton of Schwyz, the cantonal tax administration (Kantonale Steuerverwaltung) in Schwyz assesses the deceased on the basis of this last tax return, to be completed by the heirs – in a separate procedure, distinct from the inventory drawn up by the inheritance office. In it you state income and deductions up to the date of death and the assets as at the date of death; you reconcile the asset figures with the inventory. The information sheets do not state who sends you the tax return or what deadline applies – what matters is the letter from the tax administration; ask them if you have received nothing a few weeks after the death. If the tax liability ends before 31 December, you fill in the tax return, according to the tax administration's instructions, exclusively with its online solution – the desktop software eTax.SZ is not intended for this; you submit it online or print it out, sign it and send it by post. You apply for a deadline extension through the canton's online counter (with the PID and date of birth of the taxpayer) – until the end of March, or before a deadline set by the authority expires; the competent office is the municipality or district named on the tax return, and for questions or special cases you contact your municipal or district collection office (Gemeinde- oder Bezirkskassieramt). Spouses and registered partners are assessed jointly for the period from the start of the tax period to the date of death: the surviving person fills in the last joint tax return up to the date of death and files a separate tax return for themselves for the period afterwards to the end of the tax period. You reclaim withholding tax (Verrechnungssteuer) that fell due up to the date of death with the last tax return. For the undivided estate: from the date of death to the date of division, the heirs declare the balance and the income as undivided estate in their own tax return – no inheritance tax is due in the canton of Schwyz.
Last checked: September 2026, against the canton's official pages. Is something no longer right? Let us know.
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