What to Do When Someone Dies in Switzerland: Step-by-Step for English Speakers
What to Do When Someone Dies in Switzerland: Step-by-Step for English Speakers
The phone call comes and nothing makes sense. Someone you love has died in Switzerland, and you're staring at a system built in three languages you don't speak, run by 26 cantons with their own rules. The funeral office is called a Bestattungsamt. The court that handles inheritance is a Bezirksgericht in Zurich but a Justice de paix in Geneva. And the bank just froze every account.
Here's the step-by-step sequence, in order of urgency.
Day 1: Medical Verification and Police
If the death happens at home, call emergency services at 144 or the deceased's family doctor. A physician must physically examine the body and issue the medical death certificate (Todesbescheinigung). Without this document, nothing else can proceed.
If the death happens in a hospital or care home, the institution handles the medical certification and initial death notification internally.
If the death is unnatural — accident, suicide, or suspicious circumstances — call cantonal police at 117 immediately. Do not disturb the scene. The body will be transferred to a forensic institute, and the regional Public Prosecutor will open an investigation. This can delay the release of remains by days or weeks.
Days 1–2: Register the Death (48-Hour Deadline)
The death must be registered at the civil registry office (Zivilstandsamt) in the exact municipality where the death occurred — not where the person lived, if those are different. You have two working days.
Bring:
- The medical death certificate
- The deceased's passport or ID
- Their Swiss residence permit (if applicable)
- Marriage certificate (if married)
Order multiple copies of the International Death Certificate (CIEC format). This multilingual document is pre-translated into English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Each copy costs approximately CHF 30. You'll need them for banks, insurance, pension offices, your embassy, and your home country's probate process.
A licensed funeral director can handle this registration on your behalf if you sign a power of attorney.
Days 1–3: Contact Your Embassy
If the deceased was a foreign national, report the death to their embassy or consulate:
- US Embassy Bern: Issues an electronic Consular Report of Death Abroad (e-CRODA), which serves as the US death certificate
- British Embassy Bern: Registers the death and issues consular documentation
- Canadian Embassy: Similar consular death registration process
Embassies will cancel the deceased's passport and prepare consular documents. They cannot act as estate administrators, pay funeral costs, terminate leases, or interact with Swiss banks on your behalf.
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Days 1–7: Funeral Arrangements
Switzerland's cremation rate exceeds 80%. Many municipalities provide basic cremation, a simple coffin, and cemetery placement free of charge for registered residents through the municipal funeral office (Bestattungsamt).
Key timing constraint: most cantons require burial or cremation between 48 and 98 hours after death certification, extendable to five days only with certified refrigerated storage.
If the family wants to repatriate the body, that requires a separate process involving a zinc-lined airtight casket, a cantonal medical officer's seal, and a formal corpse transit permit (Leichenpass).
Week 1: Do NOT Notify the Bank Yet
This is the most expensive mistake families make. The moment a Swiss bank learns of an account holder's death, it freezes every account — savings, checking, investment portfolios, standing orders for rent and utilities, credit cards. All gone, instantly.
The freeze lasts until the Certificate of Inheritance (Erbschein) is issued, which typically takes 6 to 12 weeks. If the surviving spouse depends on those accounts for daily expenses, premature notification creates an immediate financial crisis.
Before telling the bank, make sure the surviving partner has independent access to funds or verify whether a "valid beyond death" (über den Tod hinaus) power of attorney exists.
Month 1: Tenancy Termination (30-Day Window)
A lease does not end when the tenant dies. All rental obligations transfer to the heirs under Swiss law. To exit the lease, all heirs must unanimously sign and deliver a written termination notice to the landlord within 30 days of learning of the death, invoking Article 266i of the Swiss Code of Obligations.
This gives three months' notice to the next customary local termination date. In Zurich, those dates are March 31 and September 30. Miss the 30-day window, and the heirs remain personally liable for rent on a property they may never have visited.
Month 1: Will Submission and Pension Claims
Submit any will to the competent cantonal authority immediately — Swiss law requires anyone holding a will to deliver it upon learning of the death. File a search request with the Swiss Register of Testaments (Zentrales Testamentenregister) to check for registered wills.
Notify pension offices to claim survivors' benefits: federal AHV/OASI pensions for the surviving spouse, and occupational 2nd Pillar benefits from the deceased's employer pension fund.
Months 2–6: Erbschein and Estate Settlement
After the three-month reflection period (during which heirs can accept or repudiate the estate), apply for the Certificate of Inheritance. Once issued, present it to banks to unfreeze accounts, to the land registry to transfer property, and to insurance companies to settle claims.
The Someone Died in Switzerland guide covers this entire sequence with cantonal-specific authority contacts, bilingual letter templates, a bank freeze prevention protocol, and deadline trackers — because in those first disorienting days, having the right checklist means not missing the deadlines that cost thousands of francs.
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Download the Death in Switzerland — Expat Emergency Checklist — a printable guide with checklists, scripts, and action plans you can start using today.