Individuals

Successions

Avoid the succession war: settle the division and inheritance disputes by arbitration. Three routes exist, from the will to the succession agreement; the safest is the arbitration agreement signed by all the heirs.

Good to know. Point of vigilance. No decision of the Federal Supreme Court directly settles the arbitrability of successions. The binding force of a testamentary clause on a forced heir remains debated. The safest route is the arbitration agreement signed by all the heirs.

What you can submit

Action for division of the estate; claims between heirs and against the estate.
Action for collation (art. 626 et seq. CC) and for abatement (art. 522 et seq. CC).
Action for nullity or annulment of dispositions upon death (art. 519 et seq. CC); action for recovery of the inheritance (art. 598 CC).

What remains reserved

Protective measures (art. 551 et seq. CC): seals, conservatory inventory (art. 553 CC), official administration.
Opening and communication of the will (art. 556 et seq. CC).
Issue of the certificate of heirship.
Benefit of inventory and official liquidation.

The clause

Ready to insert into your contracts. Copy it, or generate a personalised version.

Translation for information; for a Swiss-law contract the French version is recommended.

Clause in a will (unilateral act)

I submit any dispute relating to my estate, to the interpretation or execution of my dispositions upon death, as well as to the division among my heirs, to a final arbitration, to the exclusion of the ordinary state courts, in accordance with the CONCORDA Arbitration Rules. The arbitral tribunal is composed of a sole arbitrator; the seat of the arbitration is at Monthey; the language of the proceedings is French. This arbitration falls exclusively within Swiss domestic arbitration (art. 353 et seq. CPC), to the exclusion of Chapter 12 of the PILA. I invite my heirs and legatees to comply with it, the statutory entitlement and the powers reserved to the authorities remaining guaranteed.

See the other variants (2)

Clause in a contract of succession (bilateral act)

Any dispute arising out of or in connection with this contract of succession, as well as any dispute relating to the estate and its division, shall be finally settled by arbitration through the CONCORDA platform (www.concorda.ch), to the exclusion of the ordinary state courts, in accordance with the CONCORDA Arbitration Rules, by a sole arbitrator, seat at Monthey, French language. The parties expressly exclude the application of Chapter 12 of the PILA (art. 176 para. 2 PILA) in favour of Swiss domestic arbitration (art. 353 et seq. CPC). The parties undertake to impose this clause on their heirs. The award is final and constitutes an enforceable title (art. 387 CPC), the remedies before the Federal Supreme Court remaining reserved (art. 389 et seq. CPC).

Arbitration agreement between heirs (after the death), the safest route

The undersigned heirs of the late [name], namely [list], agree to submit any dispute relating to the estate, in particular the division of the estate, the claims between heirs and against the estate, the collation (art. 626 et seq. CC), the abatement (art. 522 et seq. CC) and the validity of the dispositions upon death, to a final arbitration, to the exclusion of the ordinary state courts, in accordance with the CONCORDA Arbitration Rules. The arbitral tribunal is composed of a sole arbitrator; the seat of the arbitration is at Monthey; the language of the proceedings is French. The heirs expressly exclude the application of Chapter 12 of the PILA (art. 176 para. 2 PILA) in favour of Swiss domestic arbitration (art. 353 et seq. CPC). The award constitutes an enforceable title (art. 387 CPC). The parties agree that, at the request of a party, the arbitral tribunal may provide in its award that the party which fails to comply within the fixed time limit shall pay the other party a penalty per period of delay, the amount of which the arbitral tribunal fixes on an equitable basis according to the circumstances, without it being able to exceed a rate of 10 % of the amount in dispute per year, calculated pro rata temporis. This penalty is due irrespective of any loss (art. 161 CO); art. 163 para. 2 and 3 CO remains reserved.

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