Legal assistance in inheritance cases

General inheritance issues

Let's first understand the basic terms of what movable and immovable property are.

Movable property is any material object that can be freely transported. For example, this is money, securities, gold, vehicles, etc.

Real estate is everything that is firmly connected to the land, that is, objects that cannot be moved, for example: land plots, apartments, houses, shops, etc.

According to the legislation of the Republic of Turkey, Turkish law applies to the issue of inheritance of real estate located in Turkey. That is, if you are the direct heir of your relative who invested in Turkish real estate, then the entry into rights will be regulated by the laws of the country in which the property is located.

In the case of transfer of rights to movable property, even if it is located in Turkey at the time of opening of the inheritance, the laws of the state of which the testator was a resident come into force. Yes, even if an inheritance is registered under a will, part of the assets will be transferred to the direct heirs on the basis of a mandatory share.

But do not forget that the obligatory part of the inheritance is not the entire property of the testator, but only that part of it that is regulated by the Turkish Civil Code. The remaining assets, including real estate/movable property, can be distributed among the heirs at his own discretion by writing a will.

Legal heirs and their shares

The distribution of the mandatory share is in the following order:

First of all – children and spouse, including illegitimate children recognized by a testator or by court decision.

• the spouse gets 25%, the remaining 75% is divided equally among the children;
• in case of divorce/loss of the testator’s spouse, 100% is divided among the children;
• if there are no children and there is only a spouse, he/she gets 50%;
• second priority – the testator’s natural parents;

But only if the testator has no children - 50% to the spouse, 50% to the natural parents.
If the spouse, children and natural parents are not in alive, then only then, in the third place, 100% will be received by blood brothers and sisters, and in the fourth place, by grandparents, uncles, aunts and their children, if the spouse alive – 50%

If the testator does not have a single heir, and there is no will, then all real estate is inherited by the state of the Republic of Turkey. As for movable property, as we said above, the laws of the state of which the testator was a resident come into play.

If the testator has a will, then any person indicated by the testator in an official document can receive the inheritance under it. It is also worth noting that a will is considered valid and will be accepted for execution if drawn up by a foreign or Turkish citizen strictly in accordance with Turkish legislation. The main thing is that the owner of the property has legal capacity at the time of disposal.

Debts of the testator that were not repaid at the time of death will also be included in the inheritance.The period for refusal of inheritance is also established by law and is three months from the date of opening of the inheritance.

Reasons for refusal to transfer a share of property

Heirs claiming a share of the testator’s property may be refused for a number of reasons.
List of circumstances leading to refusal to transfer a share of property:

• A crime against the testator or possible heirs, committed or planned by one of the heirs;
• Preventing the making of a will by illegal means;
• Parents deprived of parental rights at the time of opening of the inheritance;
• In the case of a fictitious marriage, which is confirmed by a court decision;
• If the heir has not fulfilled his obligations established by the Family Code.

All of the above circumstances must have an evidentiary basis and be confirmed by a court decision.

In 2020, changes were made to Turkish tax legislation that did not affect inheritance law, where the tax remained at the same level. The rate varies from 1% to 30%, which depends on the geographical location of the inheritance object, the value of the object and the number of objects.

According to Turkish law, the right to inheritance can be claimed within 10 years from the date of its opening. If during this time no heirs are found, then the inheritance passes to the state.

Work of notaries/courts with foreigners. Cadastral Service

The work and registration of inheritance in Turkey by a notary is carried out on the basis of documents that can be verified by notaries in state registers. If all information about Turkish citizens is available in the state electronic register, then this form of work with foreign citizens is impossible. In this regard, the procedure for obtaining an inheritance through the court is applied to foreigners.

The work of the Turkish cadastral service is also of no small importance. A foreigner who has received the documents necessary for registering an inheritance, after receiving a court decision on entering into an inheritance, must complete the procedure at the cadastral service and obtain ownership of the object (TAPU), in which the name of the heir will be entered.

The court issues a certificate (decision) on the right to inheritance for the property that exists on the day of issuance of this decision.

Registration of inheritance in Turkey to a foreign person in 2024.

The heirs need to obtain a decree of inheritance from a Turkish court that will allow them to transfer ownership of the property into their names.To obtain this certificate, the court will require certain documents with apostilles (birth, marriage and death certificates and the provision of statements that there are no other people who have rights to the inheritance of the deceased in Turkey).

In order to receive your part of the inheritance left to you in Turkey, you should know all the intricacies of the country’s legislation and the sequence of actions. Not always and not all foreigners have the opportunity and time to resolve this issue by permanently staying in the country. It is these and many other reasons that can lead to problems, missed deadlines and disputes with other participants in the process.

Accepting an inheritance is a rather complex process. Therefore, in order to enter into an inheritance as quickly as possible and avoid problems when registering rights, we suggest entrusting this issue to inheritance lawyers at the law firm "Tuncay&Barcin Law Office". To do this, it is necessary to issue a power of attorney in the name of a lawyer for the right to represent the interests of the heirs in court and in subsequent authorities.