A picture from an estate raises more questions than expected: who owns it, what is it worth, is it taxable, and where should it go? One at a time.
The most common mistake happens in the first few days, out of good intentions. A picture is «given a quick clean», a loose frame is glued, a yellowed varnish rubbed down with household remedies, a label removed from the back because it looks untidy. Every one of those steps can reduce the value permanently – and the label may have been the only evidence of where the picture was eighty years ago.
What makes sense now: store the work dry, dark and at a stable temperature, not above a radiator and not in a damp cellar. Photograph the front straight on and in daylight, then the signature, the entire reverse with all labels and stamps, and the frame. Those four images are the basis of any further assessment.
At the same time, gather whatever paperwork exists: old invoices, insurance policies, photographs showing the picture on a wall, letters, auction catalogues. Such documents are often worth more than an estimate, because they evidence provenance.
As long as the estate has not been divided, it belongs to all heirs jointly. Under Art. 602 of the Swiss Civil Code they form a community of heirs and can dispose of individual objects only unanimously. A sale by one person alone is not valid – not even if that person has had the picture at home for years.
In practice: before any conversation with a dealer, an auction house or a broker, establish who has to sign. Reputable counterparts ask about this themselves. Anyone who skips the question wants the transaction to move faster than it may.
Often the matter resolves itself elegantly: one person takes the picture at an agreed set-off value, the others are compensated from other estate assets. That requires a defensible figure – and this is exactly where an independent assessment pays off, one that is closer to none of the heirs.
«Value» is not a single figure. For dividing an estate, the market value counts: the price realistically achievable in a sale between independent third parties. Insurers work with replacement value, which is considerably higher. An auction house quotes an estimate range that may be set deliberately low so the lot gets moving. Three figures, three purposes – confusing them causes needless disputes.
For a first overview no expert report is needed. Photographs and dimensions are enough to say whether a work sits in the hundreds, the tens of thousands or the hundreds of thousands. A written report – costing several hundred to several thousand francs – is worthwhile only once that preliminary step shows that something is genuinely at stake, or when an authority or a court requires a defensible figure.
Inheritance tax in Switzerland is governed cantonally. Direct descendants are exempt in most cantons; for more distant relatives and non-relatives the rates can be substantial. Works of art belong to the taxable estate and must appear in the inventory at market value. Anyone who «forgets» a valuable picture risks supplementary tax proceedings.
For wealth tax, works that form part of the furnishings do not have to be declared in many cantons; a collection of an investment character does. The line is not always clear – with larger values a brief word with a tax adviser is worth the effort.
Also check the household contents insurance. Art is often covered there only up to a low sub-limit, and an inherited work is unknown to the insurer. A short notification with a photograph and a value costs nothing and prevents the unpleasant surprise in the event of a claim.
There is no reason to sell a picture merely because it is valuable. Equally there is no reason to store a work in the attic out of piety, where damp slowly destroys it. The honest question is: would anyone in the family hang the picture? If not, selling is the better form of respect – the work goes to someone who wants to look at it.
If you do sell: do not let yourself be rushed. A good picture does not lose value because you think about it for three weeks. Anyone making you an offer that is valid only today is telling you mainly something about themselves.
Send us two or three photographs and the dimensions. Within a few days you receive an honest first assessment – free of charge, without obligation, and also when we decline.
Show us the work