Since neither spouse was resident in Switzerland nor a Swiss national it would seem to me that it would follow the home country jurisdiction rather than the Swiss one. If he left a will declaring that he wanted his half of the assets to be passed on to his siblings then that is what should happen assuming it is acceptable in the country in question and there are no forced inheritance laws.
It would depend under which jurisdiction the assets were handled.
No, spouse gets half, kids or not.
Tom
Her account, she can remove it in cash if she wants.
Tom
somewhat emotionally hard to understand - siblings fighting over money on the account - I do wonder where they have been when person was still alive
Fair enough they haven't found their way into the will - I'd expect nothing more that what they been served.
True, but don't you think that there is liability of the bank if they have allowed any transfer (even from an individual account) knowing that the heirs are inquiring on the bank account and on their rights? such a transfer risk the escape/slip of heirs' rights and possibly their lost
if they have allowed such a s transfer because of what you're saying, shouldn't the bank at least inform the heirs about who and where the funds were transferred to?
On the heirs rights, what do you think about this:
"The fact that the heirs of the joint holder do not succeed the deceased in the contractual relationship with the bank does not mean that the assets in the joint account do not materially belong to the estate. It will be up to the heirs to establish it against the surviving joint owner and to act, if necessary, by way of the action in inheritance petition"
source: http://www.notalex-online.ch/index.php?id=34
Point 4
Basically, it's your problem to resolve, not the bank's, get a lawyer.
Tom
And that would depend on how the house was purchased. If it was purchased "together" (einfache Gesellschaft) the property would revert to to surviving spouse. If it was purchased in specific shares (e.g. 50-50), then the deceased spouse's 50% would be part of the estate.
OP, from the bank’s perspective you aren’t heirs. Until the Swiss courts ratify the home-country decision, you are just strangers asking for information relating to one of their legal account holders, not heirs. Nobody at the bank cares what you think the relationship is, they only care what the Swiss court has determined the legal relationship is. If the money was moved from a joint account to individual control, that is because the bank had directions from a legal process to do so. The only way that this could change is if the courts re-intervene by ratifying the foreign settlement, which will necessitate the advice of a Swiss lawyer.
On the heir status, the bank only provided me information on my brother's joint account when knowing that I am his heir, hence I have provided proof of a judgement from my country specifying my status. The bank would have never provided me any information otherwise.
I hear you on the court's intervention though and the advice of a Swiss lawyer, though if the funds were transferred elsewhere (no longer at the same bank), do you think there is a chance to reclaim them by court's decision when demonstrating our rights as heirs? I understand that you might be able to answer this now and a Swiss lawyer could do so, but just out of curiosity if this is possible to reclaim?
Reply hazy, try again.
The only way to know is to try and find out. A somewhat cheaper way is to provide all of the details and documentation to a Swiss lawyer and ask what (s)he thinks. Asking an internet forum of expats about such a specific legal scenario is pretty much like asking a magic-8-ball; you will get the same outcome.