Death in Switzerland: a checklist for family members

A death lands in the middle of life, and yet everyday matters demand decisions right away. First things first: a doctor must confirm the death and issue the medical death certificate. Within two days, you report the death to the civil registry office at the place of death. Then come the funeral, the employer and the farewell ceremony, in the weeks after that the banks, insurers and contracts, and later the inheritance and taxes. This checklist guides you through a death in Switzerland step by step, in four time windows. You do not have to manage everything on the first day. Much of it can wait, and for most of it you are allowed to ask for help.

The first hours: stay calm, call a doctor

In the first hours, what happens at government offices does not matter. What matters is that a doctor confirms the death and that you take time to say goodbye.

1. Call a doctor. If someone dies at home, call the family doctor or the medical emergency service. The doctor issues the medical death certificate. Without this document, nothing else can move forward. If the cause of death is unclear, the doctor calls in the police. That is routine, not suspicion.
2. In a hospital or care home: breathe. The institution issues the certificate and often reports the death to the authorities as well. Ask what they take care of and what remains with you.
3. Tell the people closest to you. Family, closest friends, pastoral care if wanted. Nothing more is needed right now.
4. Say goodbye. The person who died can usually stay at home for a few more hours. There is no reason to rush.
5. Gather the paperwork. Emergency binder, will, funeral wishes, identity documents, the family record book. Important: you must not keep a will or open it yourself. You are legally required to hand it in to the responsible authority.

The first two days: registration and funeral

1. Report the death to the civil registry office. The report must reach the civil registry office at the place of death within two days. For this you need the medical death certificate and the identity papers. In many municipalities, the funeral office accepts the report and passes it on. If you hire a funeral home, it usually handles this step for you.
2. Contact the funeral office of the home municipality. It coordinates the grave, the cremation and the dates. Rules and costs vary from municipality to municipality.
3. Decide on the type of funeral and the farewell ceremony. Burial or cremation, religious or secular, large or in the closest circle. If the person who died recorded their wishes, for example in an emergency binder, that spares you difficult discussions at the worst imaginable moment.
4. Inform the employer. Tell the employer of the person who died as soon as possible. If they leave behind a spouse, minor children or other people they supported, there is an entitlement to continued salary payment: at least one additional monthly salary, two after five years of service. Contact your own employer as well. Many staff regulations provide for paid days off.
5. Place the death notice. Newspaper, online, cards to the wider circle. This is a task you can hand over.
6. Secure the practical things. Lock the home, look after pets, dispose of perishables, keep an eye on the mail.

The first weeks: banks, insurance, contracts

Now the administrative part begins. Give yourself weeks, not days, and work through the items one by one.

1. Inform the banks and PostFinance. As soon as a bank learns of the death, it freezes the accounts of the person who died. Existing powers of attorney usually stop working too. Even so, many banks pay bills such as funeral costs directly from the account. What the freeze means exactly and how you can access money for running costs is covered in the guide bank account frozen after a death.
2. Notify the AHV compensation office. Ongoing pensions from AHV (Swiss social security) are stopped, and overpaid pensions must be repaid. At the same time, check the entitlement to survivors' pensions for widows, widowers and orphans, and submit the application.
3. Contact the pension fund and pillar 3a providers. They often hold survivors' benefits or a lump sum payable on death. Some of this money goes directly to the beneficiaries and does not become part of the estate.
4. Notify the insurers. Life insurance (watch the notification deadlines), health insurance (cover ends with death, overpaid premiums are refunded), accident insurance in the case of a fatal accident. Adjust or cancel household contents, personal liability and vehicle insurance.
5. Cancel or transfer contracts and subscriptions. Rent, electricity, mobile, internet, Serafe (the Swiss radio and TV fee), newspapers, streaming, clubs, credit cards. Set up mail forwarding with the post office. That is also how you discover contracts you did not know about.
6. Apply for the certificate of inheritance. It shows who belongs to the community of heirs and is required by banks and authorities. Depending on the canton, the municipality, the district court or a notary's office is responsible.
7. Take care of the digital life. Email accounts, social media profiles, cloud storage, online subscriptions. Without a list of accounts and access, this gets tedious. Many providers ask for the death certificate and the certificate of inheritance.

The first months: inheritance and taxes

1. Accept or renounce the inheritance. You have three months to renounce the inheritance. That matters if the estate might be over-indebted. If you are unsure, you can request a public inventory within one month. ch.ch explains the details.
2. File the tax return. A tax return must be filed for the person who died covering the period up to the date of death, and the heirs are liable for outstanding tax debts. Inheritance taxes are regulated by the cantons. Spouses are exempt in every canton, and direct descendants in most cantons as well.
3. Organize and divide the estate. Until it is divided, everything belongs to the community of heirs jointly, and decisions need all heirs. With real estate, businesses or conflicts, it pays to bring in a professional early, for example a notary's office.
4. Clear the home or transfer the property. Give notice on a rented flat and hand it over; for owned property, have the land register entry updated.
5. Give thanks and close the chapter. Send thank-you cards, organize care of the grave, settle the last bills from the estate.

The key deadlines at a glance

Deadlines and responsibilities for the funeral, the certificate of inheritance and taxes are partly regulated at cantonal level in Switzerland. Your municipality can give you binding answers. Pro Senectute is also a good place to turn for advice and support.

What makes this list easier: preparation

Almost every item on this checklist starts with searching. Where is the policy? Which bank held the account? Who is the family doctor, is there a will, what would she have wanted for the funeral? If those answers are written down somewhere, a research project turns into a list to work through.

That is exactly what an emergency binder, sometimes called an in case of death binder, is for: a dossier with all the important contacts, accounts, insurance policies, contracts and wishes in one place. What belongs in it is shown in the emergency binder checklist. If you want to prepare this for your own loved ones, you can start with beizeiten for free and without signing up. Your information stays on your own device, and at the end you have a printable dossier that spares your relatives many phone calls and searches in a week like this one. An emergency binder is not a legal document and does not replace advice from a notary, but it makes every step on this list faster.

For now: work through the list at your own pace. None of it has to be perfect. And for almost everything, there are people who help: the funeral office, your municipality, a notary's office, Pro Senectute.