People below the age of 16 are often unaware of this. At birth and when people move, registry offices frequently register the parents' confession for the newborn, especially when both parents are of the same confession. In such cases you need to enquire at the community administration office.

People above the age of 18 can tell from their tax return if the state considers them to be a church member. Individuals who have not been confirmed can refuse to be considered members of the reformed church.

This practice, as used by the St. Gallen Residents' Office, is the correct way of handling things (information provided on 10 May 2012). The residents' office receives notice of a birthfrom the civil registry office. Based on this notice the residents' office enquires the parents which denomination they prefer for the child. If no reply is received then "no confession" is registered. The residents' offices accept alterations only from individuals aged 16 or older or from parents (for children up to 15 years), but not from the churches. Sadly enough, diverging practices exist: http://www.beobachter.ch/justiz-behoerde/buerger-verwaltung/artikel/religion_reformiert-wider-willen/

Moving to Germany: When planning to move to Germany it is best to resign from the church while still in Switzerland, and to keep the confirmation letter. In Berlin in particular, new residents are systematically prosecuted for tax reasons by the evangelical church: http://hpd.de/artikel/11243

As a church member, you should periodically receive letters from your church. The church congregation in charge is indicated on these letters. The local parishes are often also listed on the website of political municipalities. Otherwise, enter the name of your municipality and "Reformed church" or "Catholic church" in a search engine.

To the parish of your current municipality.

If you registered at your current municipality without stating a religious membership then you are considered to have resigned "silently" and need not do anything while living in Switzerland.  To make sure, check your tax bill. As a rule it states your religious affiliation.

Please note

• The cantons of Vaud and Valais do not levy a church tax. Churches are financed out of general tax revenue. People not belonging to any church must request a refund of the community portion of the tax every year. In the canton Valais, according to a directive by the Catholic Diocese, the baptism community is responsible since 2011 for resignation confirmations.
• If you immigrated from Germany and consider returning to Germany in the future, you need to declare your resignation when registering. In Germany a confirmation letter is required for this purpose, otherwise you may be taxed retrospectively. See this ARD 2010 documentary relating to church resignations in Germany: https://www.daserste.de/information/politik-weltgeschehen/panorama/videosextern/kirchenaustritt-gebuehren-und-schikanen-100.html

For tax matters, the date of receipt of your resignation declaration by the parish counts (Federal Court Decision BGE 104 la 79). You are liable for tax for the day of receipt of the declaration (Federal Court Decision 2C_382/2008 dated 12.11.2008)

It is advisable to send a copy of the resignation declaration to your community's the tax office. When checking your tax bill, make sure the church tax is calculated on a pro rata basis to the declaration date.

This information is not required for a resignation. It is well known that many catholic parishes insist on these details, be it through ignorance or to harass people. State in writing that you do not know these details and that you do not care about the baptism parish being informed. It is essential to keep a copy of the resignation letter sent to the parish in order to prove your resignation, e.g. to the German tax authorities.

Take note: In the canton Valais, according to a directive by the Catholic Diocese, the baptism community is responsible since 2011 for resignation confirmations.

One's belief or worldview is constitutes personal data particularly worthy of protection. Authorities may only register this information for processing and must ensure that it can only be viewed by authorised individuals. Thus, only people at the residents' and tax offices should be informed about your leaving the church, and of course church staff who are responsible for the administration of members' data.

Children aged 16 or above decide about their membership themselves. For children up to the age of 16, parents can decide. You can include them in your resignation letter. When including children in your letter it is advisable for both parents to sign or alternatively mention them in both parents' resignation letters.

Take note: When the parents of a two-parent or single-parent family resign from the church without submitting a resignation letter for their under-age children, then a pro-rata tax obligation remains, as per a 2010 federal court ruling. Until this ruling, parents did not normally have to pay tax for their children. BGer Urteil 2C_510/2010 vom 13. Dezember 2010

People wishing to celebrate their child's transition from childhood to adolescence without religious reference can ask a secular ritual companion to perform the rite – see humanistische-rituale.ch. Youth ceremonies are very popular in parts of Germany.

If you wish to have your child confirmed in spite of your resignation then you should make enquiries with your parish. It may charge a fee for parents without a confession. A baptism is actually a prerequisite for a confirmation. With unbaptised people, the baptism is often integrated into the confirmation ceremony.

The FVS offers humanist welcome ceremonies to members and non-members. Ritual attendants help to create a personal ceremony to welcome the child. See humanistische-rituale.ch

A wedding is civil act performed at the municipality's registry office. Our celebrants offer a secular wedding ceremony both to members and non-members.

If you still wish to have a church wedding then this is usually not a problem if one partner is a church member. It is up to the parish's discretion how to resolve the matter.

If you are without a confession and wish to marry a catholic then a problem arises because a catholic marriage is a contract under canonical law. It requires the marriage partners to confirm in writing that they will bring up their children in the catholic faith. This clause is invalid under civil law (ZGB 303), which means that you can sign it without fear of legal consequences. However, as a couple you should be in agreement about the significance that you will place on religious education.

Yes, they can. Membership is a personal matter. This is why each adult must resign separately. For under-age children, parents in charge can declare a resignation.

Your baptism was registered in your parish's parish register. It will also contain subsequent events such as confirmation etc. Removing such an entry is not possible since this would falsify the historical record of the baptism. However, you can request an annotation such as "Resigned from the church on …).

Send this request directly to the responsible parish. Some Catholic parishes report resignations by themselves to the responsible parish. It is for this reason that our template letter contains the appropriate references.

Cemeteries are establishments provided by the state. Every person has a right to be buried on a public cemetery.

Larger cemeteries have funeral halls that can be used for a funeral service by anyone. In some communities it is possible to hire a church. We offer secular funeral services to members and non-members.

With the protestant church, a resignation is treated similarly to the resignation from an association, in spite of the church's legal standing: A person who resigned is no longer a member. Full stop.

Things are a little more confusing with the Catholics – they are reluctant to let their faithful go and they refer to their own set of rules, i.e. canonical law. An annotation in the baptism record could confirm non-membership with the catholic community (e.g. after converting to a different faith) and could free the person from the canonical marriage obligations as per can. 1117. Things are not so simple. Some authors state that, according to canonical law, you cannot resign but must be expelled because of schism, heresy or apostasy. Other authors suggest that a catholic can declare the schism by himself with his resignation declaration.

Church resignation when viewed under catholic dogmatics

From a dogmatic point of view, a baptised person will remain a catholic for the rest of his life. "In every case it is clear that the sacramental membership tie to Christ's body, who is the church, is an enduring ontological tie because of the baptism, and it does not expire because of a factual resignation". (Quotation of Pope Benedict 's XVI letter to the papal council on legal texts dated 13 March 2006 on the subject of the formal church resignation).

Partial church resignation

In 2007 the Federal Court decided that it must be permissible to resign from the catholic church while at the same time retaining the catholic confession. BGer 16.11.2007 2P.321/2006