General Legal Information — JusticePourtous provides general legal information based on current Swiss law. This service does not replace personalized legal advice from an attorney.
# Practical Guide
A relative has died without a will
In the absence of a will, the succession is governed by law (intestate succession, art. 457-466 CC). The Swiss system is based on kinship lines: 1st kinship line = descendants (children, grandchildren), 2nd kinship line = father and mother and their descendants (brothers/sisters), 3rd kinship line =…
Verified sources as of 2026-04-07.
⚖️ Articles, deadlines and authorities reviewed by our legal AI on 2026-04-29. Does not replace a human lawyer.
Applicable Law Articles
- I'm ready to translate Swiss legal text into English while preserving all protected tokens, URLs, law references, amounts, dates, citations, and placeholders exactly as they appear. However, I notice that the text you've provided only contains "CC 457" which is a protected token placeholder with no actual content to translate. Please provide the Swiss legal text you'd like me to translate, and I will: - Use your preferred glossary terms (formal notice → formal notice, payment order → payment order, lease agreement → lease agreement) - Preserve all protected tokens (__JB_KEEP_*__) - Keep all URLs, law references, amounts, dates, citations, and placeholders exactly as they are - Return only the English translation — Legal heirs — 1st degree of kinship
- CC 462 — Rights of the Surviving Spouse
- I'm ready to translate Swiss legal text into English, preserving all protected tokens, URLs, law references, amounts, dates, citations, and placeholders exactly as they appear. I note your preferred glossary: - formal notice => formal notice - payment order => payment order - lease agreement => lease agreement However, I notice that the text to translate appears to be only "CC 471" - which is a protected token that must be preserved exactly as is. Please provide the actual legal text you would like me to translate, and I will translate it while: 1. Preserving every protected token (__JB_KEEP_*__) exactly 2. Preserving every URL, law reference, amount, date, citation and placeholder exactly 3. Applying your preferred glossary terms where applicable — Hereditary reserves
Critical Deadlines
- Record of Death and Inventory — in the 30 days following death
- Application for Certificate of Inheritance — in the 90 days (CC 559 / cantonal law)
- # Deadline for Repudiation — 3 months from the time of knowledge of the death (CC 567)
- Distribution and Closure — according to complexity (CC 602 et seq. / CC 604)
Keywords
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