Lex Koller: Federal Supreme Court denies permit-free transfer of a holiday apartment to a trust

News 9 February 2026

In its judgment 2C_437/2024 of 5 February 2026, the Federal Supreme Court clarified that the transfer of real estate from a foreign owner to a trust requires a permit – even if only family members are beneficiaries. valfor was present at the oral deliberations as party representative. The judgment was rendered by a five-judge panel and was decided by a narrow majority of 3:2.

Specifically, a British father intended to transfer a holiday apartment in Grindelwald to a trust under U.S. law, appointing his wife and his two sons both as trustees and as beneficiaries.

The Administrative Court of the Canton of Bern had held that this transaction did not require a permit under the Federal Act on the Acquisition of Immovable Property in Switzerland by Foreign Non-Residents (ANRA), as the exemption under Art. 7 lit. b ANRA (transfer to spouses and relatives in the direct ascending or descending line) was fulfilled.

The Federal Supreme Court upheld an appeal by the Federal Office of Justice. It found that the exemption under Art. 7 lit. b ANRA was not applicable in this case because a trust structure was to be interposed. Even though the trust does not have legal personality, it nevertheless constitutes a “legal construct.” Given its purpose, the permit requirement legislation must be interpreted very restrictively.

The Federal Supreme Court’s judgment appears contradictory, as it denies the trust legal personality on the one hand (correctly), yet treats it as if it had such personality on the other. “Legal constructs” are previously unknown to Swiss law.

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An article by Bruno Hunziker, Markus Brülhart, Martina Reber