Federal Court Son of a Catholic priest treated as a stranger under inheritance law
A Lucerne municipality must re-examine the inheritance tax levied on the son of a Catholic priest at the behest of the Federal Supreme Court. A peculiarity of Lucerne's inheritance tax comes into play here.
27.10.2025, 12:00
SDA
The complainant's aunt bequeathed half of her assets to him around two years ago. Inheritance tax in the canton of Lucerne is 6 percent for the parental estate. It is doubled from an amount of CHF 500,000.
However, the municipality did not demand 12 percent from the complainant, but 20 percent. This rate applies to unrelated persons. The reason for the higher tax rate was that the father of the man born in the 1960s is not entered in the civil register.
However, a special feature of Lucerne inheritance tax is that the lower rate also applies to illegitimate blood relatives, provided they are entitled to inherit. The Lucerne municipality must now examine whether these conditions are met in this case.
