The distribution of your third-pillar funds is determined by the law of succession and the hierarchy of potential recipients. In the event of your passing, the designated beneficiary can be your spouse, partner, children, parents, or siblings.
When the account holder dies, their pillar 3a account is closed and the pension assets are available to the beneficiaries. The legal framework determines the order in which these individuals are entitled to the funds and leaves only limited scope for designating specific individuals as beneficiaries.
According to inheritance law, the distribution looks like this:
a) Spouse or registered partner
b) Direct descendants as well as persons who have received significant support from the client, or the person who has had an uninterrupted life partnership with the client in the 5 years prior to and until their death or who is responsible for the maintenance of one or more common children
c) Parents
d) Siblings
e) Other heirs.
The order a) to b) may not be changed. If people from categories a) and b) do not exist, then the people in positions c), d) and e) can be considered arbitrarily.
The client can specify one or more people listed under b) or specify their claims in more detail. However, this only comes into play if a) is not present.
The client has the right to change the order of beneficiaries between c), d) and e) and to specify their claims in more detail. Such a change must be communicated in writing to the Foundation. This only applies in the absence of a) and b).
Submission of the form
Download this document (only available in German), fill it out, print it and sign it by hand.
Send the original signed form to the following address:
VZ Vorsorgestiftung 3a
Stiftungsadministration / TAS
Gotthardstrasse 6
8002 Zürich
As soon as VZ has received the documents, you will receive a confirmation from us.