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Portrait of Louise Lutz Sciamanna

Louise Lutz Sciamanna, LL.M.

Counsel
Certified Specialist SBA Inheritance Law

CMS von Erlach Partners Ltd
Räffelstrasse 26
P.O. Box
8022 Zurich
Switzerland
Languages German, English

Louise Lutz Sciamanna is a specialist in inheritance law. She advises private clients in the areas of wealth and estate planning, estate administration, national and international matrimonial and inheritance law, business succession, and charitable foundations. She provides advisory and litigation services.

Louise Lutz Sciamanna has been practicing as a lawyer in the Private Clients field since 2009. In 2015, she joined CMS Zurich. Prior to that, she worked for several years in a renowned business law firm in Zurich, as an inheritance advisor in an international bank, and as a court clerk at the Zurich District Court.

In addition to her legal practice, she is a lecturer in inheritance law at the University of Zurich. She regularly gives lectures and publishes in her field of expertise.

Louise Lutz Sciamanna is a certified specialist lawyer in inheritance law (SAV) and a member of the Successio Association (Association for the Promotion of Swiss and International Inheritance Law). Louise Lutz Sciamanna has been recommended by Who's Who Legal, Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, and Citywealth (Top 35 Private Client Litigators - Europe 2020).

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Louise Lutz Sciamanna is a "brilliant lawyer in her field" according to sources who consider her "a rising start" thanks to her remarkable inheritance expertise.

Who's Who Legal, Switzerland - Private Client 2021

Louise Lutz Sciamanna handles national and international succession and estate planning for high net worth clients. She is also able to assist with inheritance disputes. A market insider says: "Louise has a good practical sense and is not only solution-driven but also hard-working."

Chambers and Partners, HNW, Switzerland, Private Wealth Law, 2020

Louise Lutz Sciamanna is a “true expert in the field” with “phenomenal analytical skills and broad experience” in estate planning and inheritance disputes.

Who's Who Legal, Switzerland - Private Client 2020

Tobias Somary and Louise Lutz Sciamanna both have a strong analytical approach. They have strong communication skills as well as enormous readiness for action.

The Legal 500, Private Client, Switzerland, 2020

Louise Lutz Sciamanna advises on all aspects of private client law for wealthy individuals and families. Her experience includes both domestic and international matters and she is praised for being "very intelligent and quick to grasp all the issues." She also handles estate administration as well as inheritance and succession disputes. A lawyer comments: "She handles clients very well, even when they are hard work. She keeps everyone up to date and is very responsive."

Chambers and Partners, HNW, Switzerland, Private Wealth Law, 2019

Memberships & Roles

  • Lecturer at the University of Zurich in matrimonial property and inheritance law
  • Zurich Bar Association (ZAV)
  • Swiss Bar Association (SAV)
  • Zurich Bar Association, Inheritance Law Section
  • Successio (Association for the Promotion of Swiss and International Inheritance Law)
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Publications

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Lectures list

  • 1 December 2022, training and further education at the Higher Court of the Canton of Zurich, "Gesetzesrevision – Das neue Erbrecht"
  • 5 October 2022, Schweizerische Treuhänder Schule STS, half day seminar on "Revision of Swiss inheritance law and ease of business succession" (together with Roxana Bollinger-Bär)
  • 23 November 2021, St. Galler Eherechtstagung 2021, Grand Casino Lucerne, "Effects on the revision of the inheritance law on family law II"
  • 28 October 2021, Schweizerische Treuhänder Schule STS, day seminar on "Successful Estate and Emergency Planning" (together with Tobias Somary)
  • 26 August 2021, 16. Schweizerischer Erbrechtstag, Hotel Schweizerhof, Lucerne, "Yesterday, today and tomorrow in estate planning: Initial findings on the revision of the inheritance law"
  • 30 November 2020, St. Galler Erbrechtstagung, online-event, lecture "Nachlassplanung im Vorfeld der Erbrechtsrevision: Gestaltungsüberlegungen aus der Praxis"
  • 5 November 2020, Schweizerische Treuhänder Schule STS, day seminar on "Successful Estate and Emergency Planning" (together with Tobias Somary)
  • 31 October 2019, Schweizerische Treuhänder Schule STS, Hotel Marriott, Zurich, day seminar on successful estate and emergency planning (together with Tobias Somary)
  • 7 February 2019, Hotel Baur au Lac, Zurich, "Paradigm Change in Inheritance Matters" (lecture together with Tobias Somary and Jasper Stallmann, CMS von Erlach Poncet Ltd.)
  • 14 November 2018, Schweizerische Treuhänder Schule STS, Hotel Marriott, Zurich, day seminar "Erfolgreiche Nachlass-, Notfall- und Güterplanung" (together with Somary and Jasper Stallmann, CMS von Erlach Poncet AG)
  • 13 September 2018, Bildungszentrum KV Zürich Business School, Weiterbildung für Assistierende von Mitgliedern des Zürcher Anwaltsverbands, "Erbrecht – Was ich wissen wollte!" (together with the lawyers Gabrielle Mazurczak and Tobias Somary)
  • 19 October 2017, Schweizerische Treuhänder Schule STS, Hotel Marriott, Zürich, Tagesseminar Erfolgreiche Nachlass-, Notfall- und Güterplanung
  • 14 and 15 March 2017, Podium des Zürcher Anwaltsverbands im Casinotheater Winterthur und im Kongresshaus Zürich, Referat zum Thema „Plötzlich urteilsunfähig! Vorsorgeaufträge für Jung und Alt“
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Education

  • 2019 – Fachanwalt SAV Erbrecht / Certified Specialist SBA Inheritance Law
  • 2012 – King's College London, Master of Laws (LL.M., with distinction; Dickson Poon School of Law Prize for best student on the LL.M. in International Business Law)
  • 2008 – Bar Admission (Zurich)
  • 2005 – University of Zurich (lic.iur., magna cum laude)
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12/04/2023
CMS Switzer­land re­com­men­ded by The Leg­al 500 EMEA 2023
Rank­ings of CMS Switzer­land in The Leg­al 500 EMEA 2023 Edi­tion
07/2022
CMS Switzer­land re­com­men­ded in the Cham­bers High Net Worth Guide 2022
Cham­bers and Part­ners has pub­lished its rank­ings of lead­ing law firms and law­yers in the High Net Worth Guide 2022. Our firm and our law­yers are lis­ted in both rank­ings for Switzer­land.
01/07/2022
Mar­riage for all
Since the Swiss Civil Code entered in­to force in 1912, Swiss mar­riage and fam­ily law has evolved dur­ing time due to the shift­ing views re­gard­ing equal­ity between the parties in­volved. The in­tro­duc­tion of the re­gistered part­ner­ship in 2007 cre­ated a spe­cial civil status for re­gistered same-sex couples. While this was a pro­gress, it did not lead to an equal treat­ment com­pared to mat­ri­mony. There­fore, a par­lia­ment­ary ini­ti­at­ive was launched in 2013 and called on the le­gis­lat­or to open the mar­riage to all couples, re­gard­less of their sexu­al ori­ent­a­tion. On 26 Septem­ber 2021, the mar­riage for all won thump­ing ap­prov­al of the Swiss elect­or­ate. This makes Switzer­land the 30th coun­try world­wide – and one of the last in West­ern Europe – to ex­tend civil mar­it­al status to male-male and fe­male-fe­male couples.As of 1 Ju­ly 2022, mat­ri­mony is open to same-sex couples in Switzer­land. It is no longer pos­sible to es­tab­lish new re­gistered part­ner­ships. Nev­er­the­less, ex­ist­ing re­gistered part­ner­ships will con­tin­ue to ex­ist, provided they are not con­ver­ted in­to a mar­riage by the couple's joint de­clar­a­tion at a civil re­gis­trar of their choice.As a de­fault rule of law, re­gistered part­ner­ships were sub­ject to the rules of sep­ar­a­tion of prop­erty (ab­sent over­rid­ing con­trac­tu­al pro­vi­sions agreed-upon by the couple). Un­der the new law, the re­gime of par­ti­cip­a­tion in ac­quired prop­erty shall ap­ply to same-sex mar­riages as a stand­ard rule of law. As a res­ult, the po­s­i­tion of the sur­viv­ing spouse is strengthened.If a re­gistered couple con­verts their part­ner­ship to mar­riage, the rules on par­ti­cip­a­tion in ac­quired prop­erty will ap­ply ret­ro­act­ively un­less the couple has pre­vi­ously entered in­to a nup­tial agree­ment or, al­tern­at­ively, changes the ap­plic­a­tion of the stat­utory law by con­tract. Hence, an ex­ist­ing nup­tial agree­ment re­mains val­id bey­ond the con­ver­sion.With the pos­sib­il­ity to marry, same-sex couples ac­quire full ad­op­tion rights. They may ad­opt the child of their part­ner and may also ad­opt jointly.Fi­nally, the sim­pli­fied nat­ur­al­iz­a­tion pro­ced­ure is now also open to mar­ried same-sex couples. 
11/04/2022
CMS Switzer­land re­cog­nised by The Leg­al 500
Rank­ings of CMS Switzer­land in The Leg­al 500 EMEA 2022 edi­tion
14/04/2021
CMS Switzer­land ranked by The Leg­al 500
Rank­ings of CMS Switzer­land in The Leg­al 500 EMEA 2021 edi­tion CMS Switzer­land is re­com­men­ded in 18 cat­egor­ies in this year's Europe, Middle East and Africa edi­tion of The Leg­al 500, pub­lished in April...
21/01/2021
Con­tin­gency plan­ning with prox­ies in Switzer­land
1. Are prox­ies used in con­tin­gency plan­ning? A per­son cap­able of act­ing, i.e. any­one who is at least 18 years of age and has ca­pa­city of judge­ment, may grant a proxy. In Switzer­land, prox­ies are fre­quently...
Comparable
01/01/2021
New Coun­sels at CMS
We are pleased to an­nounce that Louise Lutz Sciamanna, Dr Dav­id Hof­mann and Dr Fa­bi­en Liégeois have been ap­poin­ted as Coun­sels, re­spect­ively with­in the Pub­lic Law, Tax and Private Cli­ents de­part­ments.Louise...
15/04/2020
New rank­ings from "The Leg­al 500" for CMS Switzer­land
New rank­ings from "The Leg­al 500" for CMS Switzer­land CMS Switzer­land is be­ing re­com­men­ded in 16 cat­egor­ies in this year's edi­tion of The Leg­al 500, pub­lished in April 2020. We are par­tic­u­larly pleased...
16/04/2019
CMS Switzer­land fur­ther im­proves its rank­ing with The Leg­al 500
CMS Switzer­land fur­ther im­proves its rank­ing with The Leg­al 500 We are de­lighted to an­nounce that CMS Switzer­land is be­ing re­com­men­ded in 12 cat­egor­ies in this year's edi­tion of The Leg­al 500, pub­lished...
13/03/2019
Neue Re­geln im in­ter­na­tionalen Ehegueterrecht
Avail­able in Ger­man lan­guage only