Can someone recommend an attorney or law firm or notary for drawing up a will? Ideally in Zurich / Zug area, but happy to travel further for the right firm. In addition to Swiss inheritance laws, the person should be familiar with UK and US properties and probate process.
Our situation in short:
mom and child have (dual) Swiss citizenship mom owns assets in the US dad owns properties in UK and in Switzerland properties dad owns alone on paper in Switzerland are technically owned by mom and dad (joint payment for mortgage, joint contribution on down payment etc.) mom and dad are not married Our main questions are (in addition to the need to draw up a will):
We believe anything mom owns is subject to Swiss inheritance laws (meaning protected % for the child, and nothing protected for dad as not married). However, it's unclear whether anything dad owns is subject to Swiss inheritance laws as dad isn't Swiss but the child is - aka, can dad request home rules (UK) to be applied? Any difference of treatment between dad's UK property vs. Swiss ones? Best way to avoid lengthy (and costly) probate process in the US for assets mom owns in the US. Usually this would be done via a trust in the US, but not sure about the cost to set one up and whether it makes any sense given we aren't talking about massive asset values and whether trust would work given dual Swiss citizenship. If both mom and dad die whilst the child is still a minor, what are the ways to appoint guardianship over assets to be inherited by the child - aka, looking for ways to protect the financial interests of the child. Any ways to lower inheritance tax given mom and dad aren't married? Lasting Power of Attorney vs. a will? Would a lasting power of attorney give the surviving partner the right to the deceased partner's assets?
Any insights or experience you've had with the questions above are also welcome
I can’t recommend anyone as not in Zürich area. But I think you are looking for a Notaire / Notary, not a lawyer.
I thought the notary is good for someone drafting a basic Swiss will without the international issues, but perhaps I'm wrong. Not sure... have seen many law firms offering estate planning, will writing services, but don't want to just randomly approach a firm and hence looking for recommendations
Things beyond standard swiss inheritance, i.e. immovable property is several jurisdictions, potentially other assets not captured under swiss inheritance, I'm afraid you will need legal expertise in 2 or 3 jurisdictions. You probably need a lawyer in the US and UK for those assets. On the other hand the Swiss side of things could be quite straightforward. For the non-CH partner, there are several ways to go about it.
The cost to set up our US trust, done by a US law firm, was IIRC in the high four figure range.
Which is more than it would have been had we been US residents. But the several Chicago area lawyers we consulted got that deer in the head lights look when we hit the Swiss resident, Swiss assets bit, and each insisted on bringing in an international specialist.
Since we plan to be back in the US when we shuffle off this mortal coil, a US trust makes sense for us. But we are both US citizens and we are not Swiss citizens - in your situation a US trust might not be the right solution for you.
Answered from a pure Swiss point of view. Other jurisdiction can have thaere own view, interpretation, and claims, which can make it complicated and might lead to double taxation.
The citizenship of the heir is not relevant.
Foreign real estate is subject to the laws and regulations at the place were it is.
If a Swiss resident has not Swiss citizenship they can claim Heimatrecht when declared in a will/testament. Heimatrecht does not affect taxation
If both mom and dad die whilst the child is still a minor, what are the ways to appoint guardianship over assets to be inherited by the child - aka, looking for ways to protect the financial interests of the child.
Many thanks for the very helpful answer! Does this mean that even though mom (me) has Swiss citizenship, we can still follow local (US) laws for the US based real estate? I had thought that since I've acquired Swiss citizenship, the protected inheritance will be there no matter what for anything I own.
Thanks for the insights. We've never explored setting up a trust in the US and hence I didn't know about the cost, but I just have the feeling that it wouldn't be cheap and hence may not be cost efficient for a small amount of assets, so your answer confirmed it.
Child and I are actually dual US citizens and honestly, I just want to make sure that if both my partner and I pass away when the child is still small, the inheritance process will be as simple as possible for all the US stuff. Perhaps there's another way.
Technically and legally only the paper (land register) is relevant. The only option would be if the payments are treated as a loan and recorded as such (including in tax return). Even more, a down payment from the mom could be seen as a gift to the dad and might be subject to gift tax (usually same tax rates as for inheritances apply).