You did everything right. It still fell apart.

You did everything right. You made a will. You thought carefully about each of your children. You believed you had protected your family from conflict.

After you passed, it started within weeks. One sibling questioned the valuation of the property. Another felt they had been treated unequally. A third hired a lawyer.

Under Swiss law, when there is no executor appointed, the heirs must manage the estate together — unanimously. Every decision requires agreement. Bank accounts frozen. Property untransferrable. Assets sitting idle while legal fees accumulate.

Three years later the estate was still not settled. The legal costs had consumed a significant portion of what remained. The siblings no longer speak.

You did everything right. It was not enough.

Most people believe a will settles things. It does not — it starts a process.

In Switzerland, a will must be opened by the cantonal probate authority. Heirs are notified. Any heir can file a challenge — questioning the testator's capacity, alleging undue influence, contesting the valuation of assets, or claiming their compulsory portion was not respected.

A challenge does not need to succeed to cause damage. The filing alone freezes the process. Assets cannot be distributed while a legal challenge is pending. That process can take months. Often years.

Meanwhile the family is in a room together — or pointedly not — watching something that was supposed to bring them security become the thing that divides them.

When a person dies in Switzerland without appointing an executor, the heirs automatically form what the law calls a community of heirs — Erbengemeinschaft.

Every decision about the estate requires unanimous agreement. Every heir has an effective veto. Sell the property — only if everyone agrees. Transfer the portfolio — only if everyone agrees. Pay the legal fees — only if everyone agrees.

In a family where relationships are warm and trust is intact, this works. In a family where one sibling feels wronged, or where a second marriage created competing interests, or where distance — physical or emotional — has grown over the years, unanimity is a fiction.

The result: assets frozen. Income stopped. The family home sitting empty while lawyers exchange letters. The wealth you spent a lifetime building, suspended in a legal structure that requires the cooperation of people who are no longer cooperating.

Assets held in a Liechtenstein foundation are governed by the foundation deed — a legally binding document written by you, in your words, before any dispute exists.

The foundation council is obligated to follow the deed. Distributions flow to beneficiaries according to your rules — not according to what the heirs can agree on. There is no community of heirs. There is no unanimity requirement. There is no freeze.

You define who receives what, when, and under what conditions. You can provide for a surviving spouse without disadvantaging children from a previous marriage. You can exclude assets from the inheritance calculation entirely. You can ensure that the family home remains intact for the next generation rather than being forced into a sale to satisfy competing claims.

The foundation council performs your composition. That is Liechtenstein law.

What you built does not become the thing that breaks your family.

Not every situation requires a foundation. But every estate benefits from clarity.

Under Swiss law you can designate an executor (Willensvollstrecker) in your will. The executor has the authority to administer the estate independently — without requiring unanimous agreement from the heirs. They can sell assets, pay debts, and distribute the estate according to your instructions.

An executor does not solve forced heirship. (see Forced Heirship →) It does not remove contested compulsory portions. But it removes the community of heirs problem — the freeze — and replaces it with a single point of authority.

For families where relationships are solid and the estate is straightforward, a well-drafted will with a clearly appointed executor may be sufficient. For families where the situation is more complex — blended families, significant assets, property across jurisdictions, or relationships that are already strained — a foundation provides a level of governance and certainty that a will and executor cannot.