Novelties in Inheritance Law 2021

As of January 1, 2021, the Supplementary Benefits Act will be revised, with the following direct effects on inheritance law:

Reimbursement of lawfully received benefits
After the death of a recipient of supplementary benefits, the benefits he or she have received must in the future be reimbursed by the estate. Specifically, the part of the estate that exceeds the amount of CHF 40,000 must be repaid. In the case of married couples, the reimbursement obligation only exists when both spouses have died and is to be drawn from the estate of the second deceased. These changes may lead to large reimbursement obligations (at the expense of the heirs), with a particular concern for middle-class estates where the deceased had claimed supplementary benefits over a long period of time.

Asset threshold for entitlement
Simultaneously with the afore-mentioned novelty is the change regarding the entitlement to supplementary benefits: only persons whose assets amount to less than CHF 100,000, or less than CHF 200,000 in the case of married couples, will be entitled to such benefits. The thresholds are calculated without consideration of residential property or real estate, provided that it is inhabited by one of the spouses.

The disbursement of assets will also be taken into account to a greater extent: if a person spends more than 10 percent of his or her assets each year without there being an important reason for doing so, this is to be qualified as a disbursement of assets. It should be noted that this rule only applies from the time the entitlement to an old-age or disability pension arises. The existing rule, whereby a voluntary waiver of assets (e.g. a gift) is taken into account, is retained. In line with social welfare, the changes are intended to ensure that supplementary benefits can only be drawn once the applicant’s assets have been used up or affected significantly.