Funeral pre-planning in Switzerland: arranging your own funeral

Funeral pre-planning in Switzerland covers two separate things, and it pays to keep them apart from the start: writing down what you want, and putting aside the money to pay for it. You can do one without the other. Most of the bad surprises begin there — someone leaves precise instructions and no money the family can get to, or the other way round.

The wishes half is free and fits on one page: cremation or burial, a religious or a civil service, where people gather, an obituary or none, who to call first. The funding half means reserving an amount in advance for the funeral, with a funeral home, a pre-planning provider, an insurer, or in an account you keep yourself.

Planning ahead changes something concrete. Funerals in Switzerland usually take place three to seven days after the death, and the family picks a funeral home, a coffin and a service within the first 48 hours. At that same moment the deceased's bank accounts are frozen (blocked) until the certificate of inheritance is produced, which often takes several weeks. So relatives pay out of their own pocket, with no time to compare anything.

Switzerland has no single answer here, and the three routes do not solve the same problem. The first pays for services. The other two build up a sum of money.

1. The prepaid funeral plan

You choose the services in advance with a funeral home or a pre-planning provider and pay for them, in one go or by monthly instalments. At death, the money is used only to carry out what was agreed. This is the most common route in Switzerland. Two things weigh heavily in its favour: the price of the services is in principle guaranteed for the whole term of the contract, and nothing passes through the estate, so the money is there straight away.

2. Death benefit insurance

An insurance contract pays a lump sum to the beneficiaries you name. Nothing obliges them to spend it on the funeral, and the amount is tied to no particular service: if prices have risen in the meantime, the family covers the difference. It makes sense when the goal goes beyond the funeral, protecting a spouse for instance. Look at the medical underwriting on entry, the maximum age for taking out a policy, and how long the insurer takes to pay.

3. Money set aside

A dedicated savings account, or part of a Pillar 3a. This is the most flexible and the cheapest route, with one serious flaw: at death, an individual account is frozen. The money exists, it is simply out of reach at the moment the invoice lands. A joint account, or a power of attorney that stays valid beyond death, changes that. Confirm it with the bank in writing, before anyone needs it.

The three side by side:

Cremation now accounts for close to nine funerals in ten in Switzerland. For a cremation with a service, the usual order of magnitude is CHF 4,000 to 8,000. A burial costs more, mainly because of the coffin, the memorial and the lettering. For comparable services, the gap between two funeral homes can exceed 50% — precisely the comparison nobody can make once the death has happened.

Two useful details. Health insurance does not cover funeral costs. Where the death follows an accident, the compulsory accident insurance (UVG / LAA) does pay part of them. So it is always worth checking what already exists before you take out anything new.

Then there is inflation. A contract signed at 55 may be carried out 30 years later, and CHF 8,000 frozen at today's value will not pay for the same funeral in 2056. That is the real difference between a nominal sum and a service contract with a price guarantee: in the second case the provider owes you the services themselves, whatever they cost by then. If a contract mentions indexation, ask which index and what the ceiling is.

Seven questions, in this order. A serious provider answers them in writing.

Switzerland has no central register of funeral wishes. A perfectly drafted document is worth something only if somebody gets their hands on it within 24 hours.

What works: a copy with someone you trust who knows they have it, a copy at home in the folder with your important papers and your identity documents, a copy with your pre-planning provider if you have one, and a card in your wallet saying where the document is and who to call. Tell two people, in plain words. That is the most effective part of the whole exercise, and it costs nothing.

My wishes, on one page

A common question after a death, and there is no national file to search. So you look by hand, in this order:

If you are searching because someone close to you has just died, start with the folder and the bank statements. In practice the answer is there nine times out of ten.

Funere sells no pre-planning contracts and arranges no funerals. We list providers active in Switzerland and put you in touch with them, with no extra intermediary.