Step 4 · Planning ahead
Seven documents written for Swiss law, ready to download and use as they stand. Some are for the days that follow a death. The last three exist so that those decisions never land on your family.
Updated on August 12th, 20265 minute read
Free, and no email address
Written for Swiss law
Free to reuse
Dated and kept current
A document on its own is not an explanation. Each template links back to the guide that goes with it, which says who to send the letter to, by when, and what to enclose. Read that first: half the trouble comes from a correct document sent at the wrong moment.
The two documents people go looking for in the first forty-eight hours, when nobody is in any state to be making lists.
The eighteen organisations to contact, in order of real urgency: the first week, then the month, then what can wait. The list covers the old-age and survivors' insurance compensation office (AHV / AVS), the pension fund, health insurance, the employer, the banks, the letting agent, the insurers, the municipality, Serafe (the radio and TV fee), telecoms, Swiss Post, subscriptions and the tax authorities.
Print it and tick as you go, from the first week and through the month that follows. The law imposes no form here. The order of the steps and the deadlines are in the guide to documents and formalities.
One letter, to be adapted for each subscription or contract: phone, internet, newspapers, public transport passes, clubs, supplementary health insurance. The template sets out the subject line, the customer reference, the mention of the death, the request to terminate and for a final statement, and the enclosures.
Send it in writing, with a copy of the death certificate, within the month that follows, once you have listed the recurring direct debits.
The letter that reports the death, asks for a statement of the assets and sets up the closure. It is also the one that asks the bank to pay the funeral home's invoice out of the deceased's account.
A single envelope carries three requests: the full statement of the assets as at the date of death, payment of the funeral invoice, and closure once the certificate of inheritance (Erbbescheinigung) has arrived. The paragraph about the funeral home's invoice is optional. The template also asks for the list of standing orders and gives the instructions for transferring the balance.
Send it by registered post, signed by the known heirs, in the first week. One letter per bank. The full text, ready to copy, is in the guide to bank accounts after a death, which also sets out what the bank pays while the account is frozen (blocked).
This is the most delicate document on the list, because a mistake over the date costs several months of rent. The death of a tenant opens a special right to terminate, and that right is lost if it is not used at the first possible date.
A letter based on Article 266i of the Code of Obligations, which lets the heirs terminate on the next admissible termination date even where the lease was for a fixed term or set a longer notice period. The template carries the legal reference, the blank for the termination date, the request for a handover inspection and a block for several signatures.
Strict form
Registered post, signed by every heir, in the days that follow the death. Check the termination dates that apply in your canton before you write the date on the letter: the detail is in the house clearance guide.
Three documents to prepare while you can. The form matters: under Swiss law, a will that has been printed out and filled in is worth nothing. It has to be copied out by hand from beginning to end, or drawn up before a notary.
A reference text to copy word for word, with the clauses that head off later disputes: revocation of earlier wills, precise identification of the beneficiaries, appointment of an executor. It comes with the standard structure and the usual wording, plus an eight-point checklist for going over a will you have already written.
Handwritten in full, dated and signed: a printed or typed will is void. Worth having at any age, and worth rereading after a divorce, a birth or a property purchase. The valid forms are set out in the guide to writing a will.
The document that tells doctors which treatments you accept and which you refuse if you can no longer speak for yourself. The Civil Code calls it a patient decree (Patientenverfügung), and it also names the person who will speak for you on medical matters. It covers resuscitation, life support, feeding, pain relief, where you want to spend the end of your life and spiritual care.
Here a printout is allowed, provided you date and sign it in your own hand. Draw it up as soon as you can, then reread it every five years. Note on your health insurance card that you have one. The template also appears in the guide to advance directives.
One page for what matters most: cremation or burial, the service, the obituary, and above all where your contracts are. You note the prepaid funeral plan and its number, two people to be told and where the copies are kept.
No formal requirement applies, and the sheet carries none of the force of a will. Fill it in whenever you like, and leave it where it will be found. Give a copy to someone you trust. You can also fill it in directly in the funeral pre-planning guide.
These documents exist to be handed out, and you need no permission from us. Civil registry offices, care homes (EMS / Pflegeheim), palliative care units and municipal social services see families every week who leave with a leaflet and a long list of questions. These seven documents were written to fill exactly that gap.
These documents are general information templates, valid for Switzerland. They are not legal advice and they do not cover particular situations: a blended family, a business, assets abroad, heirs who disagree. The competent authorities, the fees and the legal termination dates are set by the cantons. If in doubt, speak to a notary or to the authority in your canton.