INHERITANCE LAW IN TURKEY

INTRODUCTION

As a consequence of international marriages, foreign expats living in Turkey and Turkish people living abroad, there are a lot of inheritance cases in Turkey involving foreigners. In this article, we will explain the inheritance law of Turkey and what to do when facing a lawsuit for our clients.

HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS

The Turkish Inheritance Law accepted the “Class System” regarding who have a right on the inheritance. If there is a person in the previous class, the people in the following class will not be able to claim any right on the inheritance. The classes are:

1.Class: Kins in the direct line (Children and grandchildren)

2.Class: Father, mother, kins in the direct line of father and mother (Brothers and sisters etc.)

3.Class: Grandfather, Grandmother, kins in the direct line of grandfather and grandmother (Uncles, aunts etc.)

4.Class: Parents of Grandfather, Parents of Grandmother, kins in the direct line of parents of the grandfather and parents of the grandmother

HOW “WILL” AFFECTS THE INHERITANCE?

The above-mentioned shares will be in effect if there is no will of the deceased. The deceased person is able to partially change how the inheritance will be split. We say partially, because the legislation on inheritance brought some restrictions regarding how much of the inheritance the deceased is able to give away.

The restriction is called “Protected share”. Simply, the will is unable to touch the protected shares of the relatives of the deceased which are determined by the legislation. The protected shares are:

1- Kins in the direct line (Children and grandchildren) – ½

2- Father and Mother – ¼

3- The spouse: All her/his share if the spouse is inheritor with the mother and father or the children of the deceased. ¾ if he or she is inheritor with the grandfather or the grandmother of the deceased.

DOES DIVORCE AFFECT MY INHERITANCE RIGHT?

According to the Turkish Family Law, divorce will break the inheritance relationship between the ex-spouses. However, if the deceased died during the divorce case, this law will not be applied. The inheritors of the deceased are able to continue the divorce case in the name of the deceased with the intend to cancel the spouse’s right to inheritance. They can use this right only if the ex-spouse has done something that surely would break the marriage and inheritance relationship.

PROCESS OF LIQUIDATION

For liquidation, one of the inheritors has to apply to a notary or a civil court for obtaining a certificate of inheritance. This certificate will prove the right of inheritance for the inheritors. With this certificate, one of the inheritors will be able to apply to a civil court and start the process of liquidation. The court can give two different verdicts: Selling of the inheritance and split the payment or splitting the inheritance itself if possible. For splitting the inherited values directly, all the inheritors must agree on the direct splitting.

WHAT TO DO IF MY INHERITANCE RIGHT IS VIOLATED?

If your right to inheritance is violated by other inheritors by giving you less shares then themselves, you can apply to a civil court for “Case for reduction”. In this case, the court will assign an expert for evaluation of the true shares, and your right will be compensated.

OUR SERVICES

As Alfa Law Firm, with the power of attorney document you will give us, we will be able to complete every step explained above for you. We can apply to a notary or civil court for obtaining the certificate of inheritance. We can apply to the court for splitting the inheritance or if your right is violated, we can compensate it.