Law & finances
The document that unlocks the account — and takes longer than people expect.
Shortly after a death relatives run into a wall: the bank account is blocked. The key is called the certificate of inheritance (Erbbescheinigung).
It is the official document confirming who the heirs are and who may therefore deal with the estate.
Depending on the canton, the succession authority, the justice of the peace or the notary competent at the deceased person's last domicile.
The heirs apply. You need the death certificate, civil status documents and, where one exists, the will.
Reckon on several weeks. Where there is a will it must first be opened officially, and the heirs then have a period in which to contest or renounce.
That period is not administrative slowness: it protects the heirs, who can still decline an indebted estate.
In practice most banks pay the funeral invoice directly from the deceased person's account on presentation of the invoice and the death certificate, without waiting for the certificate. Ask for it: it saves advancing several thousand francs.
Dealing with accounts, selling or transferring assets, terminating contracts in the name of the estate, and registering a transfer of property in the land register.
Without it the bank releases nothing beyond the exceptions above, even for a spouse.
Questions & answers
Depending on the canton and complexity, from a few hundred to over a thousand francs. The fee is usually paid by the estate.
It depends on the canton. In some the succession authority suffices; in others the notary is competent. The municipal administration will point you the right way.
That is possible and common. A written, sometimes legalised, power of attorney lets one heir on site act for the others.
Yes, within a statutory period after learning of the death. That is the right reflex where the estate might be indebted — take advice before dealing with anything.