Inheritance for Turkish property.

I need some advice on Turkish inheritance law please.

I have a property in Turkey. My wife is deceased and by English law I inherited all her worldly goods. I did not have probate when she passed away as it was not necessary, everything was in joint names. It was some time ago.

I have a Tapu for my Turkish property that has my wife's name on it. It was my wife's wish and is also mine that on my demise, the property should be passed to my two brothers on a 50/50 basis. This is stated in my English will. There are no children from our marriage.

My wife had a brother but the relationship was none existent and there has been no formal contact throughout the 40 years of our marriage. His whereabouts is unknown and he could even be deceased.

I have made a Turkish will for the Turkish property and an English will for my other assets, but I am concerned that my, (and my wife's), wishes will not be fulfilled when I eventually pass away. We both agreed that the property in Turkey should go to my brothers, (who she was very closed to), and no part should go to her brother. Would he still be entitled to receive part under Turkish law or would the English will be taken as final. I have never resided in Turkey and due to ill health am not likely to. My wills will be executed in the UK.

In the unfortunate event that Turkish law decrees that the brother could have a claim, what proportion of the property could he claim?

As I mentioned earlier there has been no contact since before our marriage more than 40 years ago. It was an acrimonious break in the relationship, there was bad feeling.

There are no surving parents and no other siblings.

How would Turkish law deal with the property under these circumstances?

Thank you,

Christopher

Dear Christopher,

It's true that Turkish inheritance law involves an institute named "reserved portion" as the testators are merely allowed to dispose the inheritance rights of their successors within the proportions/percentages stated in Turkish civil code, whist the British testators are utterly free on disposing their assets regarding inheritance issues in British law. However, Turkish civil code was amended as abrogating the article of the siblings' reserved portion on the 10/05/2007.

In light of the foregoing, your wife(RIP)'s brother may either be a sucessor of her assets with reserved portion, or not as depending on the death date of your wife.

On the assumption that your wife passed away before the date 10th May 2007, you and her brother will acquire her assets on a 50/50 basis. The reserved portion of a sibling was 1/8 in the ex arrangement of the Code, thus he will have the 1/8 of his 50% portion in any case even if there's a valid testament left by your wife as devesting her brother's inheritance rights.

In the second assumption(your wife passed away after the new legal regulation had come into effect), her brother will be able to get totally devested of his inheritance rights provided that there's a valid testament left from your wife for this purpose.

I've tried to summarize everything you need regarding the reserved portion issue of a sibling under Turkish inheritance law shortly. If there's still a point unclear in your mind, please don't hesitate to ask anything you'd need to know.

Best wishes

Interesting post and hope you don't mind if I ask a related question regarding property inheritance.

My Turkish father left my Italian mom and I in Italy when I was a baby and he went back to Turkey, I'm Italian born and now 18.

Through facebook, an older Turkish cousin recently found me and told me she wants to meet me, she also told me my dad had remarried and has another son in Turkey. Dad actually never divorced my mom, he just left one day saying he had to visit a sick brother and never came back or phoned or anything so they are still legally married (they married/lived in Italy). My cousin found out about me, but was told to keep me a secret from the rest of the family in Turkey, especially my dad's Turkish wife and son...my cousin was also told that my mom left dad and was shocked to learn the truth.

So I have a 1/2 brother, but as mom/dad married in Italy, Turkey does not know about my mom and me and probably his Turkish marriage is illegal. If something happens to my dad, i understand that his assets would go to his Turkish wife and son, but what about me?. The Turkish government does not know that i exist, so how would i get my inheritance if something happened to him?. Only one cousin knows about me and if for some reason I would lose contact with her, i would never know anything. Nobody in 18 years has ever contacted me, except this cousin who found me through the internet, she was not even looking for me, but she recognized my surname same as hers and noticed i looked the same as her uncle.

Can you help me please and tell me what i can do to get my inheritance rights in future should i outlive my dad?.

Alıntı: Yazan Konuk Interesting post and hope you don't mind if I ask a related question regarding property inheritance. My Turkish father left my Italian mom and I in Italy when I was a baby and he went back to Turkey, I'm Italian born and now 18. Through facebook, an older Turkish cousin recently found me and told me she wants to meet me, she also told me my dad had remarried and has another son in Turkey. Dad actually never divorced my mom, he just left one day saying he had to visit a sick brother and never came back or phoned or anything so they are still legally married (they married/lived in Italy). My cousin found out about me, but was told to keep me a secret from the rest of the family in Turkey, especially my dad's Turkish wife and son...my cousin was also told that my mom left dad and was shocked to learn the truth. So I have a 1/2 brother, but as mom/dad married in Italy, Turkey does not know about my mom and me and probably his Turkish marriage is illegal. If something happens to my dad, i understand that his assets would go to his Turkish wife and son, but what about me?. The Turkish government does not know that i exist, so how would i get my inheritance if something happened to him?. Only one cousin knows about me and if for some reason I would lose contact with her, i would never know anything. Nobody in 18 years has ever contacted me, except this cousin who found me through the internet, she was not even looking for me, but she recognized my surname same as hers and noticed i looked the same as her uncle. Can you help me please and tell me what i can do to get my inheritance rights in future should i outlive my dad?.

According to Turkish International Private Law rules, the process of inheritance is held subject to the national law of the deceased person. In respect of this rule; your all transactions, claims and cases must be done in accordance with the Turkish law.

I'll shorltly inform you regarding what you should do for claiming your inheritance rights according to Turkish law in the following;

First, you should make sure whether your parents' marriage is registered in entitled offices of both Turkey and Italy in order to claim your natural rights as being your father's daughter/son. But in respect, your father could make a new marriage with another woman in Turkey, we can come to the conclusion that the marriage was not registered in Turkey considering that the polygamy is outlawed in Turkish Civil Code.

In terms of this prospect(assuming that your parents' marriage is a registered and valid one Italy, but not in Turkey), you'll be able to have equal inheritance rights as well as your father's son in Turkey by bringing an affiliation case against your father in Turkish courts.

I've tried to be as understandable as I could without getting in terminological issues of law. I hope this helps.

Mr. or Ms. Tiocfaidh, thank you for replying to my post..really, thank you alot.

You are right, the Italian marriage is valid because my mom never did anything after dad left, but if I tell Turkey about it, my dad could go to jail for bigamy and i don't want to cause this kind of problem for him. All I really want is the Turkish government to know that I exist and for them to add me as his dependent son in the registration office.

Can I do this in a way that he won't go to jail?. I have my Italian birth certificate with my dad's signature and I also have their marriage certificate. I have read something that says that I should have my birth registered through the Turkish embassy in my city, but if i do this, I guess the marriage will also have to be registered to prove i'm his legitimate son. I will also have to go to the army if my birth is registered, but I speak no Turkish and don't have the money to pay army to go for 3 weeks and i'm afraid to go to army because i don't know anybody there.

It seems that the only way to get my rights for future is by exposing my dad's broken laws, that he left a marriage and child without divorcing...i did not want to do this so i guess i have a choice to make, make problems for my dad or get my rights...hmmm, not a good choice for me, it makes me feel bad and worried...don't know what is the right thing to do...what he did to mom and me was wrong, but for son to send his dad to jail is also wrong.

Thank you for getting back so quickly. I can confirm that my wife died in July 2007 which presumably means that the latest part of the law applies. Could you explain to a layman what portion if any of the property could go to her brother.
I am reading it that he could have nothing or at most an 1/8th.
Thanks and regards
Christopher

Alıntı: Yazan Konuk Mr. or Ms. Tiocfaidh, thank you for replying to my post..really, thank you alot. You are right, the Italian marriage is valid because my mom never did anything after dad left, but if I tell Turkey about it, my dad could go to jail for bigamy and i don't want to cause this kind of problem for him. All I really want is the Turkish government to know that I exist and for them to add me as his dependent son in the registration office. Can I do this in a way that he won't go to jail?. I have my Italian birth certificate with my dad's signature and I also have their marriage certificate. I have read something that says that I should have my birth registered through the Turkish embassy in my city, but if i do this, I guess the marriage will also have to be registered to prove i'm his legitimate son. I will also have to go to the army if my birth is registered, but I speak no Turkish and don't have the money to pay army to go for 3 weeks and i'm afraid to go to army because i don't know anybody there. It seems that the only way to get my rights for future is by exposing my dad's broken laws, that he left a marriage and child without divorcing...i did not want to do this so i guess i have a choice to make, make problems for my dad or get my rights...hmmm, not a good choice for me, it makes me feel bad and worried...don't know what is the right thing to do...what he did to mom and me was wrong, but for son to send his dad to jail is also wrong.

You are very welcome, I just hope my messages have been useful and you are somewhat informed about your status and probable rights you can claim from your father. You can call me Tiocfaidh or shorly Tio without any prefix such as Mr or Ms, but I'm a guy if you wonder what gender I am.

You don't need to file an affiliation/a paternity suit in Turkish courts if your father recognizes the your pedigree by himself. Thus, you won't need to prove the ex marriage of him and your mother in order to win the case. It's not a compulsory to have been born in marriage for having inheritance rights in Turkish law as long as the child gets recognzied by the father. You can acquire the same rights from your father's inheritance as well as his other son just by getting recognized by your father even without mentioning of your mother and their ex marriage. However, you have every right to file the case of affiliation against your father and expose everything needed to be known if he resists not to recognize your pedigree.

Alıntı: Yazan Konuk Thank you for getting back so quickly. I can confirm that my wife died in July 2007 which presumably means that the latest part of the law applies. Could you explain to a layman what portion if any of the property could go to her brother. I am reading it that he could have nothing or at most an 1/8th. Thanks and regards Christopher

Dear Christopher, I'm afraid not to have been understood well.

I'm repeating once again in case there's something needing to get clarified in your mind. There's no right of your wife's brother such as "reserved portion" since she passed away after the new regulation had come into effect. Thus, you can have everything left from her(provided that there's a valid testament your wife left with the purpose of devesting every inheritance rights of her brother and she has no inheritors other than her brother) without getting to share with anyone else. Yet, he would have acquired the 1/8 of his inheritance rights(50% of your wife's assets) if your wife died before the new regulation was enacted on 10th May 2007.

In summary, considering that she passed away in July 2007 and there's a valid testament devesting her brother's inheritance rights, you are the only inheritor of your wife without getting to share her assets with anyone else, including her brother.

I've tried to sum everything up as understandable as to be comprehended by people unfamiliar to Turkish law, however I'm still here if there's something needed to be elaborated and/or clarified.

Regards

A big thank you for giving me the information in a formate that I understand.
Can I compliment you on your response and the website in general. It is priceless as far as I am concerned.
Best Regards
Christopher.

Me and my mum are investing in a property in turkey. My mum has a turkish husband. If anything happens to my mum, will he still get half the property even though hers and my names on the deeds.

Alıntı: Yazan Konuk Me and my mum are investing in a property in turkey. My mum has a turkish husband. If anything happens to my mum, will he still get half the property even though hers and my names on the deeds.

What I've understood from your message is that you are asking how the property would get shared between you and your step father if your mother passes away.

It's, actually, an inheritance law issue and has nothing to do with getting the half of the property for the other spouse. Getting the half of the property is rather concerning the law regarding the property regimes between the spouses in case any divorce some day.

As for your question; if there's a collective ownership of you and your mother on the deeds, the 1/4 of her portion(1/2) on the property will get transferred to her husband and the rest (3/4) will be your's. With a clearer statement, the 1/8 of the property will be your step father's whilst you are having the rest.

You need to elaborate the situation and the questions you are asking for receiving more satisfactory answers.

Have a nice day.

I have recently completed on buying a property in Turkey.
I was told by my solicitor there that my UK will would be accepted in Turkey but have since been informed this may not be correct. I am divorced and have 1 child of 19. She would be my sole beneficiary. Do I need to have a separate Turkish will and would I need to do this in Turkey.
Any advice would be appreciated
Regards
Irene

Alıntı: Yazan Konuk I have recently completed on buying a property in Turkey. I was told by my solicitor there that my UK will would be accepted in Turkey but have since been informed this may not be correct. I am divorced and have 1 child of 19. She would be my sole beneficiary. Do I need to have a separate Turkish will and would I need to do this in Turkey. Any advice would be appreciated Regards Irene

Dear Irene,

It's true that the will you signed in the UK can be executed in Turkey provided that it gets translated by a sworn interpreter. However, your daughter is, already, the sole successor of yourself considering that you are divorced and have no other children(as far as I understood, please correct me if I've gotten a wrong impression from your message) than her.

Best wishes.