Inheritance Law in Turkey

One of the necessities for residence or investment in Turkey is to know the Turkish laws. These laws include the inheritance law in Turkey and real estate inheritance that we will talk about in this article from Ebla Real Estate.

Inheritance law in Turkey and inheriting property:

Inheritance law in Turkey is a positive law. It is not based on the legitimate methods of inheritance distribution. Moreover, it is subject to criteria stipulated by Turkish civil law.

After the death of the testator, the legal heirs extract a death statement, Next, they go to the court to issue an inheritance. Then, the estate will be divided formally and legally.

The inheritance law is the same for foreigners in Turkey. Moreover, foreigners can distribute the estate according to the laws of their country if they file an application to the court.

The main heirs in the Turkish inheritance law:

The inheritance in Turkey, provided that there is no will, distributed according to the following sequence:

• Children and the husband or wife have priority in the inheritance law in Turkey.
• In the absence of children, the property of the deceased goes to the father and mother, and the husband or wife equally, the parents have half and the husband or wife the other half.
• In the event that neither of the parents or one of them is alive, the inheritance goes to the grandfather, grandmother or siblings by one quarter, and three-quarters of the estate goes to the husband or wife.
• If the deceased has no brothers or grandparents alive, the entire estate is inherited to the husband or wife, according to Article 495 of the Law of Inheritance in Turkey.
• If the deceased has no relatives, his property goes to the Turkish government.

Inheritance Law in Turkey:

The owner of property or real estate in Turkey has the right to leave a written legal to determine the person who will inherit him and it could be more than one person. Moreover, the owner should mention all the details of distribution in the will. Furthermore, the testator may bequeath the entire estate to a single person or to several persons.

The will has conditions and details, including:

• The testator must be over the age of fifteen and have a sound mind.
• In addition, the will can be notarized by a notary or it can be hand-written by the testator with his signature in accordance with Article No. 532 of the inheritance law in Turkey.

Does the testator have the right to prevent one of the heirs from his share in the Turkish law?

Turkish law allows the testator to prevent one of the legal heirs from taking his share in the inheritance. However, according to the Turkish law, the owner has to explain the reasons before the court. Furthermore, the deprived person does not have the right to file a lawsuit to sue the testator for preventing him from his share because Turkish law gives the property owner the right to dispose of his property freely.

Indicating the share of the heirs in the Turkish inheritance law:

There are two main criteria to distribute the inheritance according to the inheritance law in Turkey:

1. In the Turkish inheritance law, there is equality between males and females in the distribution of inheritance.
2. The husband or wife inherits half of the property according to the inheritance law in Turkey.

Both criteria are based on the principle of equality in civil and personal status laws in Turkey.

Inheriting the property to foreigners in Turkey:

The Turkish Inheritance Law allows foreigners to bequeath their real estate in Turkey according to. Moreover, the legal heirs are able to transfer the deceased’s property, real estate, etc., to them. Furthermore, inheritance is distributed as stipulated by Turkish laws.

Inheritance distribution law is the same for Turkish citizens and foreigners. However, if one of the legal heirs files an objection to the court about the way of the distribution of the inheritance, the court allows him to distribute the estate according to the laws of his country. Taking into account the priority of the will, if any.

The required papers to transfer the ownership of the property to the heirs in Turkey:

1. Certified family statement issued by the personal status department in the original country of the deceased and translated and attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to identify the legal heirs.
2. A passport with a validity of at least 6 months, translated into Turkish.
3. Extracting tax numbers for heirs.
4. Personal photographs of the heirs.

Thus, in this article from Ebla Real Estate, we have talked about the inheritance law in  Turkey

Edited by: Ebla Group Real Estate

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