Cantonal guide: Uri
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 Uri.
Handing in and opening the will
In the canton of Uri, the municipality of the last residence is the inheritance authority: the Gemeinderat (municipal council) opens wills and inheritance contracts, and the municipal chancery (Gemeindekanzlei) – in Altdorf the council chancery (Gemeinderatskanzlei), in Schattdorf the municipal administration (Gemeindeverwaltung) – is your point of contact. A will or an inheritance contract that you find after the death at home, in a bank safe-deposit box or with third parties, you hand in at the municipal chancery without delay – in the original, even if the document looks incomplete or probably invalid; Schattdorf asks that a marriage contract, too, be handed in promptly. Testamentary dispositions can also be deposited for safekeeping with the municipality of residence during one's lifetime (in Altdorf at the council chancery, in Bürglen at the municipal administration); a deposited will is opened by the Gemeinderat of its own accord after the death. The Gemeinderat identifies the legal and the appointed heirs and opens the disposition to them; all persons involved in the succession receive a copy of the opened disposition. With the delivery of this copy, deadlines begin to run: the three-month renunciation period for appointed heirs and the one-month period after which the certificate of inheritance can be issued. For the opening, the municipality usually charges costs; Schattdorf, for example, bills them on top of the basic fee of CHF 50 for the certificate of inheritance (Erbenbescheinigung). The municipal chancery will tell you the amount; the costs are charged to the estate. Contested questions, for example the validity of a will, are decided not by the Gemeinderat but by the Uri court (Landgericht Uri) in Altdorf.
Certificate of inheritance
In the canton of Uri, the Gemeinderat (municipal council) of the municipality of the last residence issues the certificate of inheritance – the municipalities call it "Erbenbescheinigung". You order it from the municipal chancery (Gemeindekanzlei; in Altdorf the council chancery, Gemeinderatskanzlei; in Schattdorf the municipal administration, Gemeindeverwaltung, Zentrale Dienste), as a rule with the municipality's order form; Schattdorf has an information sheet for this. The certificate of inheritance can be ordered by the legal and the appointed heirs as well as by notaries and authorities within their statutory tasks; the municipality tells you which documents it needs. If the deceased appointed an executor, the Gemeinderat notifies that person of the mandate (Art. 517 CC); if you need written confirmation of the mandate, ask the municipal chancery for it. The certificate of inheritance is issued at the earliest one month after the will has been opened; if there is no will, at the earliest one month after the notification of those involved (Art. 559 CC). The certificate confirms the status as heir subject to the action for annulment and the action for recovery of the inheritance; it does not decide contested claims. The issuing is usually subject to a fee – Schattdorf charges a basic fee of CHF 50, plus the costs for civil-status documents, information and the opening of testamentary dispositions; Bürglen charges by time spent. The municipal chancery will tell you the amount in your municipality. Order right away as many copies as you need for banks, insurers and the Uri land registry (Amt für das Grundbuch Uri, Grundbuchamt). If a property belongs to the estate, you notify the succession there with the form "Anmeldung Erbgang" (notification of succession; online counter on ur.ch); it requires the certificate of inheritance and the signature "von mindestens einem anerkannten Erben" (of at least one recognised heir). A municipality may assign these tasks, in its municipal bylaws (Gemeindesatzung), to the Waisenamt (orphans' office) or another body; against a decision of that body you can lodge an appeal with the Gemeinderat within ten days after it has been communicated to you.
Renunciation and public inventory
In the canton of Uri, you declare the renunciation to the Gemeinderat (municipal council) of the municipality where the deceased last lived – orally or in writing, as the cantonal act introducing the Civil Code provides; inheritance matters are handled by the municipal chancery (Gemeindekanzlei). Orally, you make the declaration in person, for the record, at the municipal chancery; in writing, preferably with the municipality's form, as Bürglen and Schattdorf, for example, offer. The Bürglen form requires a signed declaration that you renounce the inheritance "unbedingt und vorbehaltlos" (unconditionally and without reservation); each adult heir declares for themselves, for minor children the parents or the legal representative sign. The Schattdorf form has the other parent co-sign for minor children and, in the case of community of property or – under the former law – union of property (Güterverbindung), the spouse as well. Bürglen does not state any enclosures or fee – ask the municipal chancery. 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 official notification of the disposition, that is, from receipt of the copy. The renunciation is irrevocable. Whoever interferes in the inheritance beforehand – does more than administer the estate and carry on current business –, takes estate assets for themselves or conceals them, can no longer renounce. Even whoever has beforehand paid bills from the deceased's accounts, sold their car or cleared their flat may thereby have accepted the inheritance – as long as you are considering a renunciation, ask the municipal chancery first. If you renounce as a legal heir, your share passes to your descendants, who likewise have to renounce if they do not want the inheritance. If you have interests of your own in the same inheritance that may conflict with those of your minor child, the KESB Uri (child and adult protection authority) or a deputy appointed by it acts for the child – clarify early with the KESB whether that is necessary in your case, because the period keeps running. If all the nearest legal heirs renounce, the Uri bankruptcy office (Konkursamt Uri) liquidates the estate on the court's order. You also request a public inventory (öffentliches Inventar) from the Gemeinderat of the last residence, within one month from the same point in time (Art. 580 CC); the request of a single heir counts for all. The Gemeinderat issues the call to creditors (Rechnungsruf) in the official gazette of the canton of Uri (Amtsblatt), which calls on the creditors and debtors of the deceased to register their claims and debts in writing with the municipal chancery within the period stated there; it draws up the inventory and makes it available to those concerned for inspection for at least one month. Afterwards you declare within one month whether you accept or renounce the inheritance; whoever accepts it under public inventory is liable only for the inventoried debts. The public inventory is subject to a fee: the costs are borne by the estate; if it is not enough, they are borne by the heirs who requested the inventory – ask the municipality about the amount beforehand. A further route is the official liquidation (amtliche Liquidation, Art. 593 CC), as long as no co-heir has accepted the inheritance; the municipal chancery explains the procedure to you.
Inheritance tax
In the canton of Uri, the surviving spouse and registered partners (the tax act treats them like spouses) as well as relatives in the ascending and descending line – children, grandchildren and other descendants as well as parents and grandparents, including adopted children and stepchildren – pay no inheritance tax (Art. 158 of the Tax Act of 26 September 2010). The canton's tax page on ur.ch names only the direct descendants among the relatives; the Tax Act, however, is authoritative, and it also exempts parents and grandparents. Cohabiting partners are also exempt if, at the time of death, they lived with the deceased in a marriage-like relationship, namely in a shared household with the same tax residence – either together with minor children or for at least five years. Two separate flats are not enough, even in a long relationship; have evidence of the shared residence ready. The act does not name foster children among those exempt; the Uri tax office (Amt für Steuern Uri) will tell you how their benefit is taxed. Everyone else pays a fixed rate, depending on their relationship to the deceased: 8 percent for siblings and step-siblings, 12 percent for uncles and aunts as well as for descendants of siblings (nieces, nephews), 24 percent for all other persons entitled to inherit and for non-relatives, including daughters-in-law and sons-in-law. For each recipient, only the part of the benefit that exceeds CHF 15'000 is taxed; it is rounded down to a multiple of CHF 100, and a tax of less than CHF 100 is not levied. If the estate bears the tax for a recipient, that amount counts towards the taxable benefit. The taxpayer is the person who receives the benefit; however, all recipients are jointly and severally liable for the inheritance tax, that is, also for the tax of the others – each at most up to the value of what they themselves received. For taxes that the deceased still owes, the heirs are likewise jointly and severally liable, up to the amount of their shares of the inheritance, advances on the inheritance included. The Uri tax office, inheritance and gift tax division, Tellsgasse 1, Postfach, 6460 Altdorf (phone 041 875 21 17, steueramt@ur.ch; Monday to Friday 8.30–11.30 and 14.00–17.00), is responsible. It assesses the tax on the basis of the official tax inventory (amtliches Steuerinventar). You can lodge a written objection (Einsprache) against the assessment with the cantonal tax commission (kantonale Steuerkommission) within 30 days of delivery, with a request and reasons. The tax falls due when the provisional or the final invoice is delivered; it is to be paid within 30 days, after which default interest is added, the rate of which the cantonal government (Regierungsrat) sets every year. Uri levies the tax if the deceased had their last residence here; a property in another canton is usually taxed by that canton – ask its tax administration.
Tax inventory after a death
After the death of a taxable person, an official tax inventory (amtliches Steuerinventar) is drawn up in the canton of Uri within two weeks (Art. 218 et seq. of the Tax Act), namely by the office that the Gemeinderat (municipal council, called Einwohnergemeinderat in the act) of the municipality of the last residence for tax purposes designates; the municipal chancery (Gemeindekanzlei) will tell you which office that is, and in Altdorf the municipality sends out the related documents. If no assets are to be assumed, the inventory can be omitted. It records the assets and debts of the deceased as at the date of death, plus the assets of the surviving spouse (also in a registered partnership) and of the minor children; it serves to check whether the deceased met their tax obligations and is the basis of the inheritance tax. Until the inventory has been drawn up, nobody may dispose of the estate without the consent of the inventory authority (Inventarbehörde), the office that draws it up; estate assets may also be sealed. The Tax Act requires the heirs to submit to the inventory authority, within 14 days of the death, marriage contracts and inheritance contracts, testamentary dispositions and the certificate of inheritance (Art. 165 para. 2); if the certificate of inheritance is not yet available by then, ask the inventory authority by when it needs it. Have the documents as at the date of death ready: account and securities statements, insurance policies, information on property, vehicles, open invoices and funeral costs as well as on claims against social insurance and pension institutions. You are obliged to cooperate: give truthful information and allow inspection of documents; at least one heir with legal capacity, or the legal representative, has to be present when the inventory is drawn up. Assets that only come to light later have to be reported within ten days. You file the deceased's last tax return, the tax return "unterjährige Steuerpflicht" (tax liability for part of the year), with the Uri tax office (Amt für Steuern Uri) in Altdorf – more on this in the section on the tax return; clarify questions with the tax office or with the tax office of your municipality. For sealing (Siegelung) and a protective inventory (Sicherungsinventar) under civil law – for instance if estate assets might disappear – the Gemeinderat of the last residence is responsible; contact the municipal chancery.
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 Uri, the tax return "unterjährige Steuerpflicht" (tax liability for part of the year). As a rule it is not sent to the heirs' representative before a month has passed after the death; you can simply request earlier delivery. According to the guide (Wegleitung), it has to be filed within 30 days of delivery, with the Uri tax office (Amt für Steuern Uri), Tellsgasse 1, Postfach, 6460 Altdorf. If the time is not enough, apply to the tax office for an extension before it runs out. In it you state the income from 1 January to the date of death and the assets as at the date of death. Spouses and registered partners are assessed jointly up to and including the date of death – with the joint income up to the date of death and the joint assets as at the date of death; from the date of death, the surviving person is taxed on their own and files a separate tax return for the period until 31 December, with the income from the date of death and the assets at year-end. You obtain paper forms from the tax office of your municipality; the guide to the tax return is on ur.ch. For the estate that is not yet divided, the following applies: the heirs declare the assets and income since the date of death proportionally in their own tax return. If you discover income or assets that the deceased did not declare, you can, as an heir, request a simplified back taxation (vereinfachte Nachbesteuerung): if no tax authority knew about it yet and you cooperate without reservation, only the taxes of the last three tax periods before the year of death, together with default interest, are claimed retroactively.
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.