Turkish Inheritance Law for Foreign Heirs: Overview

This overview addresses selected questions of Turkish inheritance law where an estate has a foreign element. The applicable law, heir status, estate assets, tax position and intended applications require separate assessment. Prepared by Attorney Bilal Alyar, Kartal, Istanbul; this text does not determine the outcome of an individual estate.

Which law applies?

Under MÖHUK Article 20, succession is generally governed by the deceased’s national law, while Turkish law applies to immovable property in Turkey. The grounds for opening the succession, acquisition and partition are governed by the law of the country where the estate is situated. These are separate questions; the presence of an asset in Turkey does not alone mean that every inheritance issue is governed by Turkish law. Related cross-border inheritance and inheritance tax issues should be assessed separately. Owning Turkish real estate does not by itself establish that a separate Turkish will is necessary or that a particular will form is suitable.

Statutory heirs and the surviving spouse

Under Turkish law, the first group comprises descendants; if there are no descendants, the parents and their descendants form the second group. The grandparents and their descendants form the third group in the absence of the first two groups (TMK Articles 495–497). The surviving spouse receives one-quarter of the estate alongside descendants and one-half alongside the parental group. Alongside the grandparents or their children, the spouse receives three-quarters; if none of those heirs exists, the spouse receives the entire estate (TMK Article 499).

Reserved shares and a calculation example

Descendants have a reserved share equal to one-half of their statutory share. Each parent has a reserved share equal to one-quarter of that parent’s statutory share. For the surviving spouse, the reserved share equals the entire statutory share when inheriting alongside descendants or the parental group; in other cases it equals three-quarters of the spouse’s statutory share (TMK Article 506). These fractions are fractions of the respective statutory share, not direct fractions of the whole estate. Heirs who do not receive their reserved shares may seek reduction of dispositions exceeding the disposable portion under Article 560; this is subject to the statutory conditions and time limits.

Example: Assume that the legally determined calculation basis is TRY 1,000,000 and the heirs are a surviving spouse and two children. The statutory share is TRY 250,000 for the spouse and TRY 375,000 for each child. Under Article 506, the reserved share is TRY 250,000 for the spouse and TRY 187,500 for each child. The resulting disposable portion is TRY 375,000: 1,000,000 − 250,000 − 187,500 − 187,500. This simplified example assumes that the calculation basis and heir status have already been established; it does not replace determining the estate or assessing a particular disposition.

Making a will and assessing a foreign will

Official will: TMK Article 532 provides for an authorised official and two witnesses; other statutory formalities must also be observed. No will form is guaranteed to be immune from challenge. Handwritten will: Article 538 requires the year, month and day, handwriting throughout and the testator’s signature. It may be deposited openly or sealed with a notary, civil peace judge or authorised official. Oral will: Article 539 applies where extraordinary circumstances, such as imminent death, interruption of transport, illness or war, prevent an official or handwritten will. The testator communicates the final wishes to two witnesses. Article 540 requires immediate recording and presentation without delay to the relevant court, or a statement without delay for a court record, subject to its special cases. There is no one-month period for witnesses to prepare the record. Under Article 541, the oral will lapses one month after the testator later becomes able to make a will in another form; the starting point is that renewed ability.

Under MÖHUK Article 20(4), the form of a disposition upon death is assessed with Article 7: compliance with the formal rules of the place of execution or the law governing the substance may suffice. A disposition complying with the deceased’s national-law formal requirements is also valid as to form. Under Article 20(5), capacity to make the disposition is governed by the disposer’s national law at the time of the disposition. Formal validity does not settle every substantive or procedural issue. Whether a separate will should be made for Turkish assets depends on the existing dispositions and the estate; it is not a universal requirement or a guarantee against delay.

Certificate of inheritance

Under TMK Article 598, persons established as statutory heirs may obtain a certificate showing that status from the civil court of peace or a notary. Under Notaries Act Article 71/B, a notary cannot issue it where judicial proceedings are required, the civil registers are insufficient, or the application is made by a foreign national. This restriction concerns the applicant; it should not be reduced to the deceased’s nationality. The validity of an inheritance certificate can be challenged at any time. Documents and any authentication or translation requirements must be determined for the particular application; no standard completion period is promised. For appointed heirs and legatees, Article 598 contains a separate certificate rule following notification and the absence of objection within one month.

Estate debts, renunciation and an official inventory

Under Turkish law, heirs generally acquire the estate as a whole on death and are personally liable for the deceased’s debts; co-heirs are jointly and severally liable for estate debts (TMK Articles 599 and 641). This liability is not automatically capped at the estate’s value. Renunciation and acceptance under an official inventory have separate conditions and effects. The relevant procedure and deadline should be checked promptly for the particular heir.

Renunciation must be declared orally or in writing to the civil court of peace and must be unconditional under TMK Article 609. The ordinary period is three months. For statutory heirs, Article 606 runs it from learning of the death unless later knowledge of heir status is proved; for heirs appointed by will, it runs from official notification of the disposition. The consequences for other heirs must be assessed separately, rather than assuming that every renunciation simply increases all remaining shares.

Official inventory (Resmî Defter Tutma): An heir entitled to renounce may request an official inventory from the peace judge within one month, following the renunciation procedure; one heir’s request also affects the others (TMK Article 619). If the inheritance is accepted under the inventory, Article 628 provides that it passes with the recorded debts and that the heir is liable for those debts with both inherited assets and personal assets. Under Article 629, creditors who fail to register claims in time generally cannot recover from either the heir’s personal assets or the inherited assets. Exceptions apply where a claim was omitted without the creditor’s fault or despite being notified: liability remains to the extent of the heir’s enrichment. A creditor secured over estate assets can enforce that security even if the claim was not recorded. Official inventory therefore does not mean that all liability is capped at the estate’s value.

Co-heirs and joint estate management

Until partition, co-heirs generally form an inheritance community and hold the estate jointly as “elbirliği mülkiyeti” under TMK Article 640. Disposition of estate rights is joint, subject to contractual or statutory representation and management rules; this is not automatically ordinary shared ownership (“müşterek mülkiyet”).

Representative of the inheritance community: Under TMK Article 640, the civil court of peace may appoint a representative of the inheritance community until partition at the request of an heir. That rule should not be confused with every other form of official estate administration or treated as automatic authority to complete every distribution. Co-heirs generally hold the estate jointly and dispose of estate rights together, subject to contractual or statutory representation and management powers.

Inheritance tax: scope, filing, valuation and payment

Inheritance tax is governed by Law No. 7338. The ordinary inheritance tariff under Article 16 of Law No. 7338 has rates of 1%, 3%, 5%, 7% and 10%; special statutory rules must be checked separately. Annual bracket amounts and the per-heir exemptions for descendants and spouses must be checked for the applicable year. These exemptions are not a division between real estate and other assets. Article 1 determines whether a transfer falls within the Turkish tax regime; not every worldwide inheritance is automatically taxable in Turkey. Under Article 9, if the death occurs in Turkey, the filing period is four months for a taxpayer in Turkey and six months for a taxpayer abroad. If the death occurs abroad, the period is six months for a taxpayer in Turkey, four months for a taxpayer in the foreign country where the death occurred, and eight months for a taxpayer in another foreign country. These periods run from the date of death; missing-person cases have a separate rule. Article 19 generally provides for six equal instalments in May and November over three years from the statutory tax-law point of “tahakkuk”, subject to its special rules. The declaration date, an initial assessment and payment of the first instalment must not be treated as interchangeable milestones.

Valuation:Under Article 10, real estate is taken at the value serving as the basis for property tax for the initial assessment. That rule does not establish a fixed percentage discount from market value. The article also provides for the final assessment and states that payments based on the initial assessment do not count as full payment for Article 19.

Under Article 19, inherited real estate may be registered in the heirs’ names without waiting for tax tahakkuk; the registry must notify the tax office within fifteen days. Article 19 prohibits transfer or conveyance of the inherited real estate and the establishment of a real right over it until the inheritance tax attributable to that real estate has been paid in full. Land registry officials may not transfer or convey it without the tax office’s clearance document. The article separately allows permission for transfer or conveyance of some or all of the inherited real estate where the taxpayer provides qualifying security against the tax that has reached “tahakkuk”, under the statutory security conditions. This is not automatic permission or a general exception for establishing every real right. A declaration or partial payment alone does not establish compliance with those conditions.

Disinheritance

Disinheritance: Under TMK Article 510, a reserved-share heir may be disinherited by a disposition upon death for a serious offence against the deceased or someone close to the deceased, or for a serious failure to fulfil family-law obligations towards the deceased or members of the deceased’s family. Article 512 requires the ground to be stated in the disposition; if challenged, proof lies with the heir or legatee benefiting from the disinheritance. If the ground is unproved or unstated, the disposition is carried out outside the excluded heir’s reserved share, subject to the separate rule for an obvious mistake about the ground. Article 511 governs the effects on the excluded heir and that heir’s descendants; neither automatic total invalidity nor an unconditional reserved share for every relative should be assumed.

Challenging a disposition

Invalidation and reduction are separate remedies: TMK Article 557 lists lack of disposition capacity, mistake, fraud, intimidation or coercion, unlawful or immoral contents/conditions/charges, and non-compliance with statutory form as grounds for invalidation. Article 559 runs the one-year period from the claimant learning of the disposition, the invalidation ground and the claimant’s entitlement. The outer period is ten years against a good-faith defendant and twenty years against a defendant not in good faith; it runs from opening the will for wills, and from the passing of the inheritance for other dispositions. Invalidity may be raised as a defence at any time. A reserved-share infringement is assessed separately under Articles 560 and 571. The competent court and procedural conditions must be determined for the particular remedy; they are not identical to the inheritance-certificate procedure.

Arranging an instruction from abroad

An instruction can be arranged from abroad. Which steps an authorised lawyer can perform, which powers and documents are needed, and whether personal participation is required must be established for that instruction. A power of attorney does not mean that every step can be completed remotely.

For a proposed TAPU (title deed) application, the authority required and the form of the authorisation should be checked against the intended act. This overview does not prescribe a universal consular document, a fixed fee or a single power covering every estate transaction.

An intended instruction may concern wills, inheritance certificates, inheritance tax declarations, inherited-property TAPU applications or cross-border issues. The work actually undertaken, necessary authorisations and any involvement of foreign advisers must be agreed for the particular matter. No avoidance of probate, tax saving or completion outcome is promised.

The office provides Turkish-English communication. For an inheritance matter, the accepted work, required authorisations, documents, fees and any need for advice in another jurisdiction are clarified individually. The existence of a foreign element does not establish that representation or advice in every foreign jurisdiction is included.

Frequently asked questions

I inherited property in Turkey — where do I start?

Begin by identifying the heirs, the assets and the potentially applicable legal systems, then determine the documents and authorisations required for the intended application. Check the inheritance-tax filing period against both the place of death and the taxpayer’s location using the rules explained above. The tax declaration and the registration or later sale of inherited real estate are separate steps; do not assume that obtaining an inheritance certificate postpones the tax filing deadline.

How long will the inheritance process take?

There is no single completion period covering the inheritance certificate, tax assessment, land registration and access to every asset. These steps depend on the facts, documents, relevant authorities and any dispute.

Can I renounce only selected assets or debts?

Renunciation must be declared orally or in writing to the civil court of peace and must be unconditional (TMK Article 609). It should not be treated as a way to keep selected assets while discarding their debts. Acceptance under an official inventory is a different mechanism: the heir is liable for recorded debts with both inherited and personal assets (Article 628); unrecorded claims have the separate rules and exceptions in Article 629. The appropriate procedure and its deadline should be assessed for the particular heir, rather than assuming that an official inventory limits liability to the estate’s net asset value.

Statutory sources

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Prepared by

Av. Bilal ALYAR

Marmara Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi mezunu (2015). Aile hukuku, ceza hukuku, kripto para hukuku, bilişim hukuku, şirketler hukuku ve vergi hukuku alanlarında faaliyet göstermektedir.

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