Need information regarding divorce and property

Dear Friends ,

I am British with Turkish Citizenship and my wife is Turkish with British citizenship. We have a child which holds both Citizenships as well .We have been married for 12 years now. Unfortunately we have come to a point in our marriage where we can no longer get on and I wish to know the best way to proceed. We purchased a house here where I paid for it but as the house does not have proper tapu "has land tapu but not building tapu yet , has electricity,gas etc and apparently this is normal in Istanbul" it had to be put solely in my wifes name "I did not have citizenship at the time". I have discussed having the house in both of our names but she has told me that it is not possible because of the Tapu topic. I want to leave the house and rent an appartment and then file for a divorce but I don't know if I would have more rights if I stay in the house or leave . Also my wife has never worked thus had no income so this should prove that the money for the house came from me. In a divorce who would get the house ? Also how would the courts decide who gets custidy of my child. Would it be possible for me to bring her to England as she has a passport ? Any advice you can provide on the best way for me to proceed would be greatly appreciated

Dear Bill, I'll try to answer your questions as numbered below..

1)If the unhappiness in your home has begun to be unbearable, you can of course leave it to stay in another appartment. But if you leave home in an incomplete condition and with an amiss reason(like flirting with another woman), this will absolutely be an disadventage for you while sharing the common assets of you and your wife while divorcing. What I understood from your message is that you can not abide to stay with your wife due to incompatibility anymore who you have already agreed on divorcing. So there's nothing that may cause to be a disadvantage for you, I think.

2)It doesn't matter whoever(husband or wife) seems to be the owner of an asset/a property in marriage, that will be decided to be shared between the parts by the Judge since it was purchased during marriage. There's only one exception of this rule for you to get the house entirely if you claim that you purchased it with your own personal money(like the money that you have been inherited by your relatives). You can not claim that the house is yours that you bought with your personal income. Because all the money you earn(even your personal income) during marriage belongs to your family, but not only you, according to Turkish Civil Code.

3)It's all the judicial discretion to decide who will have the custody of your child. There's nothing clear in Turkish Civil Code that gives exact clues whether to give the child to mother or father. The judge will make a decision about the custody of your child to give her the best future considering your and your wife's economical situations, her(child's) personality, social interests and even religional and national ideas. The judges generally give the custody of the children to the part who they feel themselves closer in the divorcement cases of international marriages. I don't know the details about your child but I can say that her custody may be given to you if she prefers to live in England rather than in Turkey(although the expressions of non legal-aged people(children) are disregarded).

King regards

Hi Tiocfaidh ,

Someone said over the week end that there may be a clause in Turkish law that says that if I leave the house for more than 6months them I may loose any rights to the house . Do you know if this is true ?

It's true that it may be a disadvantage for you to get less percentage while sharing the family assets(but not only the house) during divorce case if you leave the house while having no justified reasons. For instance to leave home to flirt with another woman or to leave for keeping away from your obligations as the male part of the marriage. But as well as I understood from your message, you want to leave home just for avoiding any arguments with your wife(whom you have already agreed on divorcing). I recommend you to keep staying with your family until recieving the divorce decision of the court. But if the unhappiness and the arguments with your wife have begun to be unbearable, it means that the marriage has already been ended though it's formally still in force on the paper. The judge will probably consider that you had a justifiable reason to leave the house in the court.

Please don't hesitate to ask again if you still have questions or if you aren't satisfied with my answers.

Best wishes

Once the divorce case is initiated you will be granted with the right to live seperately and the "desertion" clause(the 6 months period) laid down by the Civil Code is no more applicable. If the title of the house is assigned in your wife's name after the date 2002/01/01 then it shall be seperated equally.If not, then it is to be deemed as a personal property of your wife, however you may prove the contrary.

I am Austrian,my husband Turkish.We married legally in Antalya,in December 2002.He is working for the Turkish Government as English teacher for 27 years now.In August 2004,the Turkish Government send him to teach for 5 years in Bishkek/Kyrgyzstan.While he was in Bishkek,I visited my children of my first marriage,in America.After 9 month,I joined my husband in Bishkek and had to find out that,from September 2004,until January 2005,he was living together with a Kyrgyz woman(Bagdad).From February 2005 until beginning of June 2005, he was living with a woman named Cildiz.I arrived in Bishkek June8th 2005.During the year 2006,he had 2 short-term affairs.In September 2005, we bought here a house.Kyrgyz law prohibits foreigners to ow property,therefore we received from the old owners a paper from the notary,giving us power over the house.Also,my husband bought a little outside of Antalya a field from a villager,but he has no papers on it.Nevertheless,in 2004,my husband,with my finanziell help,began to build a house on this field.We were not able to finish building it,because my husband was send to Bishkek....His 20 year old son is living with us and brings often in the middle of the night women into our house.I am against this,but my husband does support his son in this.After me and my husbands last big argument on this subject,him and his son declared me to be "their enemy".I was told by both of them, to leave the house immediatly and never to come back again.I was told from both of them,that they don't want me there that they want me to go right away,and they don't care to where.
Since my husband's son was able to be abusive to me in the past,with no consequences to face for it,I decided that it would be safer for me to comply with their demands,and so I left our house and moved into an apartment.This was 6 weeks ago.One week after I moved out of our house,my husband again began to have another woman living with him.When I confronted him with it,since I happen to see this woman myself naked in our house,he said she is only a "house guest".....My husband is receiving from the Turkish Government a teacher salary of 800 US Dollars each month to his account in Antalya, and at the same time a salary of 1100 US Dollars, to his account here, in Bishkek.I asked my husband for support of 400 US Dollar per month,during the time we are still legally married.He refused and said that I am not his problem and I should ask my father and children for money.I told him that I want a divorce and a settlement of 9000 US Dollars.As long as I want any money from him,he refuses to give me a divorce.....Today I found out that he already secretly had changed the name on the notary papers and inquired at the notary about papers and proceedings to sell the house.In addition,he told his daughter in Antalya(from his first marriage,as is his son),to find a buyer for the property and house in Antalya(she works in Antalya at the FinansBank).Next step of their plan is,that his daughter will take this money and use it as base-money to buy a house in Lara.For the rest of the house money,she will take a loan under her name and also the house papers will be under her name,but my husband will be the one,paying back this loan,since that house is actually his,but it will be at first done in this way,so I would not be able to claim anything at the divorce...I am not able to make any headwaves legally here,because of the wide-spread bribing system....I really need help and advise in this ASAP !!!!

I am British and have been married to a Turk citizen for 3 years. We have 1 daughter and the apartment we live in was paid for mostly by my father. I was told that the apartment couldn't be in my name as I was not a citizen. However, I was also told that the assests would be shared in case of divorce. Now people are telling me that, as my daughter has spent most of her life in Turkey, that it is unlikely that I would be awarded custody. I have been turning myself inside out in order to provide a secure and supportive environment and life for my child in the face of the chaos and lack of structure and guidance that my husband's family finds acceptable. I know if he gets custody, she will be destroyed by them so does this mean I have to live the next 13 years 15 years in Turkey if I want to be with my child??? Please advise. Thank you.