Cantonal guide: Vaud
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 Vaud.
Handing in and opening the will
In the canton of Vaud, the «Justice de paix (justice of the peace)» of the district where the deceased last resided is the inheritance authority. There are nine Justices de paix, one per district – the Jura-Nord vaudois and the Gros-de-Vaud share one; the addresses are on vd.ch under «Justices de paix». The address given there for inheritance matters is an e-fax, reserved for urgent communications; originals are sent by post. A «testament (will)» or a «pacte successoral (inheritance contract)» that you find at home, in a bank safe-deposit box or with a third party, you hand in there without delay, in the original – even if the document looks incomplete or probably invalid. Whoever keeps or finds a will is obliged to do so; this also applies to a notary with whom a will is deposited. The Justice de paix is the only authority that opens a will. It establishes the facts, identifies the legal and appointed heirs and any executor («exécuteur testamentaire», executor), and invites them to the opening; everyone involved receives a copy of the provisions concerning them. With the opening, deadlines begin to run – for example the renunciation period for appointed heirs and the period for a contestation. For the handling of an estate with a will («dévolution testamentaire», testate estate settlement) – opening and every further step, without protective measures and without the certificate of inheritance (certificat d'héritier) – the cantonal tariff of civil court costs («Tarif des frais judiciaires civils», TFJC) provides CHF 400 to 1'200. Without a will («succession ab intestat»), the fee depends on the heirs' degree of relationship: CHF 200 to 400 when descendants inherit, CHF 400 to 700 for the parental line (parents and their descendants) and CHF 700 to 1'000 for the grandparental line; if the deceased leaves no assets, it is CHF 100. The costs are charged to the estate.
Certificate of inheritance
In the canton of Vaud, the Justice de paix of the district of the last residence issues the certificate of inheritance («certificat d'héritier») – on application by the heirs, never of its own accord. It certifies who is entitled to inherit and names an executor with general powers; properties are not listed on the certificate of inheritance. You file the application («requête») in writing with the Justice de paix. It establishes the circle of heirs using civil-status extracts and certificates: if the deceased was Swiss (or naturalised before reaching the age of majority), the certificate of registered family status («certificat relatif à l'état de famille enregistré», CREFE) is decisive; for a foreign nationality, a notarial certificate of notoriety («acte de notoriété») or a declaration under oath is needed – the Justice de paix waives this if the estate is under CHF 100'000 and contains no property. Respond to the Justice de paix's request for information («demande de renseignements»); if it remains unanswered even after a second reminder, the file is closed without a certificate of inheritance. The certificate of inheritance is issued once the circle of heirs is established and verified; the cantonal court's directive does not name an earliest date. As long as the three-month renunciation period is running, this circle can still change – whoever still wants to renounce the inheritance does not apply for a certificate of inheritance. The cantonal tax administration («ACI») can require that the certificate of inheritance only be handed over later and that estate assets remain blocked for up to six months. Every person entitled to inherit receives an original, signed by the justice of the peace («juge de paix») and the court clerk. If a property belongs to the estate, the Justice de paix draws up, at the request of an heir, the surviving spouse with a testamentary usufruct, or the executor, together with the certificate of inheritance, the application («réquisition») for registering the transfer of ownership in the land registry («Registre foncier»). The fee follows the cantonal tariff of civil court costs (TFJC): a basic fee of CHF 100 plus 1 per mille of the inventoried net estate – 0.5 per mille if the deceased was married –, at most CHF 10'000; if there is no civil inventory, the Justice de paix uses the taxable net assets from the deceased's last final assessment and may adjust the fee based on further information from the heirs. A simple certificate of heirship («attestation d'héritier») costs CHF 50. The fee is billed to you. You need the certificate of inheritance mainly for banks, insurers and the land registry.
Renunciation and public inventory
In the canton of Vaud, you declare the renunciation («répudiation») to the Justice de paix of the district of the last residence – in writing, with your signature, within three months. The period runs for legal heirs from the day you learned of the death, for appointed heirs from the opening of the will. You address the declaration to the justice of the peace («juge de paix») and state in it your personal details, the other heirs and their relationship to the deceased; on request, the Justice de paix sends you a renunciation form. You send the signed original by post – the Justice de paix's e-fax is reserved for urgent communications. Whoever cannot meet the deadline for good cause, or has missed it, may ask the Justice de paix for an extension or restoration of the deadline; the cantonal tariff of civil court costs (TFJC) provides CHF 60 and CHF 150 respectively for this. The tariff sets no fee for accepting the renunciation itself; the decision that a renunciation is inadmissible costs CHF 150. The renunciation is binding. 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; for minor children the parents declare the renunciation in the same declaration, with the child's name and date of birth. If a parent is an heir themselves, or the child is under a deputyship, the renunciation first needs the consent of the Justice de paix, which in the canton of Vaud is also the child and adult protection authority. If all the next heirs renounce, the Office des faillites (bankruptcy office) liquidates the estate. You also request the public inventory («bénéfice d'inventaire») from the Justice de paix, within one month of the death or of learning of your status as an heir; the request of a single heir who could renounce is enough. The Justice de paix calls on creditors and debtors with a public summons («sommation publique») in the Feuille des avis officiels (FAO, official gazette of the canton of Vaud) and draws up the inventory. The tariff provides a fee of CHF 800 to 3'500 for the public inventory – every step, without the certificate of inheritance; the costs are borne by the estate, and where it is not enough, by the heirs who requested the inventory. Once the inventory is closed, you have one month to declare whether you accept the inheritance; whoever accepts it under public inventory is liable only for the inventoried debts. Instead of accepting or renouncing, within this period you may also request the official liquidation («liquidation officielle»); the tariff provides CHF 180 to 700 for this.
Inheritance tax
Spouses and registered partners are exempt from inheritance tax («impôt sur les successions») in the canton of Vaud; the law (LMSD) does not mention cohabiting partners – they count as non-relatives. For descendants, a tax-free allowance of CHF 1'000'000 per branch («souche») applies to deaths since 1 January 2025: if a child – or, in their place, their descendants – receives no more than CHF 1'000'000 in total, no inheritance tax is due. From CHF 1'001'000 the allowance tapers off by one hundredth for every further CHF 1'000 and is used up at CHF 1'100'000; a special scale («barème spécial») applies to this transition, rising from 0 percent at CHF 1'000'000 to 3.392 percent at CHF 1'099'000. Larger shares are taxed entirely under the general scale, which is at most 3.5 percent for descendants. For deaths before 2025, the earlier allowance of CHF 250'000 per branch applies. All other heirs and legatees – including parents and grandparents – have no allowance: a share or legacy under CHF 10'000 per recipient remains entirely tax-free, from CHF 10'000 the whole amount is taxable. The rate is progressive and depends on the degree of relationship and the size of the share; the law divides recipients into six classes. Before the communal surcharge, the rates of the general scale («barème général») range, for descendants, from 1.20 to 3.5 percent (class A); for parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, and for descendants from an earlier marriage of the surviving spouse or registered partner, from 2.64 to 7.5 percent (B); for siblings, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, from 5.28 to 12.5 percent (C); for uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews, from 7.92 to 16.5 percent (D); for great-uncles and great-aunts, great-nieces and great-nephews and their children, and for cousins and their children, from 12.32 to 20 percent (E); for all other relatives and for non-relatives, from 15.84 to 25 percent (F). The maximum rate is reached, depending on the class, from a share of CHF 110'000 (F) up to CHF 1'302'000 (A); the taxable amount is rounded down to full CHF 1'000. The relevant tables are on vd.ch under «Successions et donations». On top of this comes the communal tax of the municipality of the last residence. It may not exceed one franc per franc of cantonal tax; the municipality sets it in its tax decree («arrêté d'imposition»), separately for the direct ascending and descending line, the collateral line and non-relatives – some municipalities charge less, or nothing, for the direct line. You find your municipality's rate in the cantonal table of communal rates («Taux d'impôt») on vd.ch or in the tax decree on the municipality's website. The cantonal tax administration («ACI») assesses the tax on the basis of the tax inventory («inventaire fiscal»); you do not fill in a separate inheritance-tax return. The ACI checks the inventory, closes it and sends the statement («décompte») and the tax bill («bordereau») to the notary who drew up the inventory; according to the ACI, they check the bill, inform the heirs and take care of payment. The payment deadline is on the bill. Whoever disagrees with the assessment files a written and signed objection («réclamation») with the ACI within 30 days of being served – by post, not by e-mail.
Tax inventory (inventaire fiscal)
In the canton of Vaud, a tax inventory («inventaire fiscal») is drawn up after a death – not by an authority, but by a notary instructed by the cantonal tax administration («ACI»). The ACI contacts the heirs or their representative and sets a 30-day deadline to name the notary of your choice; if you name no one, the Association des Notaires Vaudois (ANV, Vaud notaries' association) appoints one of its members. The notary gathers the deceased's assets and debts – and the surviving spouse's – as at the date of death, carries out the matrimonial-property settlement for tax purposes, closes the inventory and files it with the ACI; the ACI checks it, closes the tax inventory and sends the notary the statement and the tax bill. The notary's fee and expenses are borne by the heirs. The fee is a fixed tariff based on the estate's gross assets – CHF 750 up to 3 million, CHF 1'500 up to 5 million, CHF 2'500 up to 10 million and CHF 3'000 above that –, plus CHF 500 to 2'500 for the matrimonial-property settlement if the deceased was married; if the notary calls in experts, the heirs also bear their costs. You cooperate with documents: account statements, securities lists, insurance policies, land-registry extracts, open invoices and funeral costs. The estate-inventory declaration («déclaration d'inventaire successoral») must be filed within three months of the notary's first appointment; in exceptional cases the ACI may extend the deadline. In four cases, a supplementary questionnaire («questionnaire annexe») to the tax return replaces the inventory – if the estate appears over-indebted, contains no taxable assets, can be exempted from tax, or is under public inventory or official liquidation; according to the ACI, it attaches the questionnaire to the tax return when the deceased was clearly without means or the net assets are clearly below the threshold. The tax inventory serves taxation; it is not the public inventory with a call to creditors that you request from the Justice de paix. In certain cases – for example when a minor heir is involved – the Justice de paix also draws up a civil inventory («inventaire civil»); its net amount later also forms the basis for the fee for the certificate of inheritance. Insofar as the Justice de paix may charge for the civil inventory, it costs, under the tariff of civil court costs (TFJC), CHF 200 plus 1 per mille of the net estate, at most CHF 1'000. Protective measures – the sealing («apposition des scellés») of rooms and containers, the blocking of an account, or a protective inventory («inventaire conservatoire») – are ordered by the Justice de paix at the request of a person entitled to inherit; the tariff provides CHF 250 for the sealing, CHF 100 for the account block and CHF 200 for each other measure. 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, a last tax return has to be filed for the period from 1 January to the date of death. The «Administration cantonale des impôts (ACI)» sends the heirs the deceased's ordinary «déclaration d'impôt (tax return)»; you fill it in and send it back signed to the ACI. In it you state income and deductions up to the date of death and the taxable assets as at the date of death. The ACI's guidance on the death is on vd.ch under «Ma situation personnelle», section «Décès». The deadline is on the tax return – the ACI does not give a general number of days. It can grant an extension on a specific reasoned request; file the request in writing with the ACI before the deadline runs out, because the online extension («e-Délai») is not available for a tax return due to death. If the deceased was married or in a registered partnership, the surviving spouse or partner fills in a last joint tax return up to the date of death; for the rest of the year they file their own tax return. You also need the asset figures as at the date of death for the tax inventory – coordinate with the notary drawing it up. For the estate's assets and income, the heirs are liable to declare and pay tax on their share in their own tax return from the date of death onward.
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.